Prevention of trafficking in persons for forced sea fishery work in Thailand

Abstract

Sea fishery is an important economic sector for Thailand that brings in huge national revenues. However, it is avoided by most Thai workers due to its dangerous and exploitative nature thus creating a labor shortage in this sector. To fill in the gap, the Thai government has devised a time-bound registration of foreign workers to attract migrant labor from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. Recruitment agents take advantage of this loophole by herding the influx of migrant workers through deceptive and exploitative arrangements, thus allowing trafficking in persons to flourish. This has put Thailand under heavy international scrutiny and trade sanctions to which the Thai Government has responded by launching the Five Ps Strategies of Prevention, Prosecution, Protection, Policy and Partnership. This paper aims to examine public and private measures to prevent trafficking in persons for forced sea fishery work in Thailand, through documentary research and in-depth interviews with key informants at study sites in Samut Sakhon, Rayong and Songkhla provinces in 2015 when CCCIF started its operation. Prevention in this study means all actions that are inclusive in the Five Ps. Research findings show that the results of the Five Ps Strategies have not been optimum. Factors contributing to the inefficient prevention work include weak law enforcement, overlap of duties and responsibilities among the authorities; inadequate operating budgets; small numbers and frequent changes of responsible actors; and, a narrow interpretation of the term ‘trafficking in persons’ in Thai laws.