The treatment and imprisonment of young Lao migrants at a farm in Nakhon Pathom is appalling. The full story is still emerging but it is clear already that shocking crimes were committed. This case is a test of the new human trafficking laws and procedures -- the national priority -- ushered in and announced by the Prayut government.
Initial testimony by two of the victims and residents in the area has shocked even hardened policemen. The brutality of this case is magnified by two components. The first is the obvious premeditation involved.
Someone at or in charge of the farm clearly thought that the way to "handle" migrant workers as farmhands was to effectively terrorise them with constant abuse, which included physical beatings for failing to meet the work demands put upon them.
Second is the preparation that was undertaken for prolonged mistreatment of the Lao workers. This included locking them up in animal cages at night, forcing them to defecate in plastic bags, physical abuse and working without pay. A high wall surrounds the farm and is monitored by closed-circuit television. There were reports that some workers had fled, were hunted down, and brought back.
Police have filed human trafficking charges against Chaidet Sonut, the Krung Thai Bank manager of Nakhon Pathom. He is also charged with detaining, assaulting and giving shelter to immigrant workers. Mr Chadet's precise role in this slavery-type case is currently not known. Despite lengthy interrogation by police, he has denied all charges and has been released on bail.
Police acted quickly once they received information from a victim said to have escaped from the farm. They deserve credit for rushing to help, and for freeing the migrants from their brutal confinement. They interviewed the Lao victims and decided they should enter a witness protection programme.
Providing witness protection to the young Lao victims indicates they intend to try to prevent the sort of local or provincial influence and intimidation prevalent in many provinces of this country. There is no public evidence that Mr Chaidet has such influential contacts, but police are certainly correct to try to avoid it from the start.
This should protect the traumatised young Lao people from intimidation or retaliation from their employer, or from the "agents" who recruited them in the Northeast and transported them to the farm in Nakhon Pathom.
This case must be pursued, openly and aggressively. Serious charges should lead to court cases to achieve the twin goals of justice being served to the victims and punishment meted out to the culprits and those who turned a blind eye.
This case, and the recent discovery of another 24 graves of Rohingya in Malaysia, means that human trafficking is still a serious problem. So much still remains to be done to counter the massive civil rights violations of human trafficking.
The treatment of the Lao migrants at the Nakhon Pathom farm is not a unique crime. It is a symptom of a deeply rooted and systemic network that treats humans far worse than humans. This system can be broken by determined action.
The Nakhon Pathom case is yet another test for the government, and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, to prove that Thailand is dead serious about tackling human trafficking and eradicating the country's stigma of being the human trafficking superhighway of this region.