On July 2, 2024, the Permanent Secretary of Labour, Mr. Pairoj Chotikasathien, presided over the opening ceremony of the training program for the training course to appoint officials in accordance with the law on the prevention and suppression of human trafficking in the 2024 fiscal year. The Director of the Office of the Secretariat of the Labour Trafficking Prevention Command Center, Ms. Sopana Boon-Long, reported on the event’s objectives. The Ministry of Labour’s executives joined the training, and relevant officials gave a welcome. The occasion took place at the Panorama Room 1, 14th floor, The Emerald Hotel, Ratchadaphisek Road, Din Daeng District, Bangkok.
Mr. Pairoj said that the Ministry of Labour is an important agency that is integral to combating human trafficking under the 20-year strategy on security. It is responsible for being the main host for the prevention of human trafficking in Thailand. This is an essential policy by the government that has set a national agenda to raise standards of protection and care to prevent Thai and foreign workers from becoming victims of human trafficking. In this regard, the Labour Minister, Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, has assigned agencies under the Ministry of Labour, both in the central and regional areas, to adopt standard operating procedures (SOP) for screening victims of labour trafficking and forced labour, and the implementation of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as a guideline for preventing and solving issues of forced labour or services and human trafficking in labour. It is necessary to increase the capacity to prevent and suppress human trafficking among the Ministry of Labour’s officials and related departments in the multidisciplinary team to have the knowledge and expertise in performing work and to be appointed as a competent official in accordance with the law on prevention and suppression of human trafficking in order to be able to enforce the law more efficiently.
The training project for the training courses to appoint officials according to the law on prevention and suppression of human trafficking for the 2024 fiscal year was organized by the Office of the Secretariat of the Labour Trafficking Prevention Command Center, the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Labour. There is a 7-day training schedule from June 30 – July 6, 2024, with training participants consisting of the Office of the Permanent Secretary of Labour, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, the Department of Employment, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, the Department of Provincial Administration, Human Trafficking Suppression Division, the Fisheries Department, the Immigration Bureau and the Department of Special Investigation, both at the central and provincial regions, totaling 73 people.
Mr. Pairoj continued that by driving operations to prevent and solve key human trafficking issues, the Ministry of Labour has prepared and enforced a standard operating procedure (SOP) for preliminary screening and preliminary screening form (Ror.Bor.1). Last year, agencies under the Ministry of Labour carried out preliminary screenings and identified 112 people who may be in danger of forced labour from 2,122 inspections. Additionally, 42,480 establishments were encouraged to adopt good labour practices (GLP) to improve the quality of life of 2,445,194 workers. The results of the operations led to the Ministry of Labour receiving two outstanding awards for preventing and suppressing human trafficking at the Anti-Human Trafficking Campaign Day 2024. The awards were the Outstanding Agency in Preventing and Suppressing Human Trafficking and the Outstanding Personnel in Preventing and Suppressing Human Trafficking.
“The Ministry of Labour is committed to enhancing the prevention and resolution of human trafficking in Thailand by considering the United States’ suggestions as guidelines for work. It will work towards the continuous development of working tools and the potential of officials under the Ministry of Labour and related agencies to be able to work efficiently and accurately in every process according to international principles. This will lead to compliance with U.S. standards and to being classified as Tier 1,” said Mr. Pairoj.
