Yingluck Shinawatra has defended her government's role in tackling human trafficking, saying progress was made during her term.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said this week that his administration was trying to address the issue, which had been ignored by previous governments.
The former prime minister claimed she had steadily laid the groundwork for effective solutions to the problem.
"Since I took office, we tried to address the issue and put into place a plan for more effective solutions. It paid off when Thailand was not downgraded to Tier-3 in the [US State Department's Trafficking in Persons] 2013 report," she wrote on her Facebook page on Saturday.
"With a concrete plan in writing, Thailand showed a significant effort to comply with the minimum standards in tackling human trafficking. Our government also allocated sufficient resources for the cause."
She also wrote that she and her deputy, Pongthep Thepkanchana, chaired several meetings held to find solutions and set up subcommittees to address each problem, such those faced by the fishing industry, so that implementation would be in line with the recommendations of the 2013 report.
"At the Dec 6, 2013 meeting between the Social Development and Human Security Ministry and Luis CdeBaca, then US ambassador-at-large to combat trafficking in persons, the ambassador commended the efforts," she wrote.
Her government focused on cooperation among agencies and concrete solutions, she said. For instance, 1,300 aid centres were set up nationwide to accept reports and complaints, as well as provide solutions.
"At the core of the problem are law enforcement, legal issues and bureaucratic deficiencies," Ms Yingluck wrote. "These challenges cannot be addressed overnight since they require time and cooperation from all sides. The government must pay attention to news reports, calls by NGOs (non-government organisations) and the solutions in line with what people and international communities want.
"Accepting that the problem exists is a good start so we can join hands in solving this international problem."
