All eyes are on Thailand once again on the use of slave labour in the fishing and seafood industry following the AP investigative report which was splashed in the news media worldwide on Wednesday.
The AP investigation coincided with the Channel 3 report on Thai slave labour victims who have escaped and been left stranded on the Indonesian islands of Ambon and Benjina.
The audience was shocked; this was the first time the horrific situation has been reported and shown to a Thai TV audience.
Thanks to the TV spotlight, authorities have acted swiftly to coordinate with their Indonesian counterparts to obtain the release of detained workers and to repatriate some 26 stranded workers to Thailand.
Though commendable, this rescue mission is clearly not enough to salvage the country’s reputation as a hub of modern slavery. Thailand was last year downgraded by the United States after years of insufficient action to stop human trafficking.
To be fair, this government has taken many steps to redress this problem it has inherited from past governments.
For example, it has beefed up the registration of foreign labourers; passed new laws with harsher penalties; issued new labour rules to protect workers; attempted to streamline and improve coordination between police, prosecutors and the courts; and set deadlines when rulings are to be delivered in human trafficking cases.
The government is also reviewing the status of past human trafficking cases and is trying to set up a database of cases that make the tracking progress easier. More stringent measures to regulate the fishing industry to do away with illegal, unregulated and unreported and fishing have been announced.
After his initial outburst against bad press, it is welcome news that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has promised to make use of information from the news reports to take legal action against fishing boats and companies that use forced labour and support illegal fishing.
The AP investigation provides names of companies involved in slave labour. Testimonies from Benjina slavery victims could also help authorities apprehend the culprits.
More than 50 Thai commercial trawlers which violated Indonesian waters have been impounded at Benjina Island.
Authorities must find out if these boats are illegal and engaged in slave labour.
Owners of fishing boats and companies involved with forced and slave labour will be punished, promised Gen Prayut. To avoid trade sanctions from the European Union, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has also stepped efforts to make fishing vessels comply with international standards by April.
Gen Prayut declared a zero-tolerance policy on human trafficking and subsequent measures to date represent progress in the right direction.
But a good policy and measures are meaningless if they are not implemented.
Many officials are involved in human trafficking networks. This is why traffickers can continue to supply slave labour to commercial trawlers.
If Thailand is to clean up its image, it must realise policies are mere words. It is action that matters.
This means enforcing anti-human trafficking laws, arresting human traffickers, getting tough with trawlers which use forced and slave labour, and severely punishing all corrupt officials whether they are from the police, labour, fisheries or the military.
These actions are long overdue. Without tough action against perpetrators and corrupt officials, there is no chance of Thailand escaping international condemnation.