Thailand continues to be rated in Tier 2 in the most recent Trafficking in Persons report (2023 TIP Report), which was released by the U.S. State Department earlier today (Friday), along with 104 other nations and territories that were evaluated globally.
Based on the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the report assigns a grade to each nation based on how effectively they are preventing human trafficking.
Being in Tier 2 signifies that while the Thai government falls short of fully achieving the TVPA’s minimal standards, it is actively working to do so.
Tier 2 nations include, for instance, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, and Indonesia.
The report also includes testimonies of laborers who were transported from one nation to another, including Thailand. A 20-year-old Uzbek who was hired to work in information technology in Thailand is one example of this. But he was compelled to work for an internet fraud ring after being trafficked to Myanmar alongside many other people. Another instance included a Cambodian man who was persuaded to fly to the Philippines but who was instead trafficked to China after passing via Thailand and made to operate cryptocurrency frauds online.
According to the report, Chinese organized crime gangs are increasingly using social media to recruit East African and Asian workers who are fluent in English or have technical backgrounds. They do this by promising them lucrative jobs in fictitious Cambodian, Thai, or Laotian companies, among other places in the region. Upon arrival, victims are taken to sizable buildings known as “scam factories,” where they endure physical and sexual abuse and have their passports taken away. Traffickers coerce their victims into participating in cryptocurrency, romance, and illegal gambling scams online.
The Thai Foreign Affairs ministry responded to the report by releasing a statement in which it stated that combating human trafficking has long been at the top of Thailand’s national agenda and that the government is “fully committed and will continue to improve relevant laws and regulations, enhance operational efficiency, and strengthen partnerships with all stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, as well as international organizations, neighboring countries, and the private sector.”
