human trafficking
- Thailand News
Former army adviser convicted of human trafficking dies in prison
A former army adviser, convicted of trafficking Rohingya migrants to camps in Southern Thailand, died in a prison hospital this week. 65 year old Manas Kongpan had a heart attack while he was exercising at the Medical Correctional Hospital where he had been admitted to treat hypertension, high cholesterol and bradycardia. The former army adviser was one of more than 100…
- Hot News
Thai fishing industry officials protest controversial ‘Seaspiracy’ documentary
Thai fishing industry officials are protesting the controversial ‘Seaspiracy’ documentary as they say its information, regarding human trafficking, is outdated. The Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre spokesman Pokkhrong Monthatphalin, says the government had been cleaning up the fishing industry for years after its illegal practises were highlighted in 2015. He says Thai authorities have been trying to invited the documentary’s…
- World News
Hackers take aim at Myanmar government website
Myanmar’s government website is recuperating after hackers took aim in retaliation of the recent military-backed coup. The cyber war ignited after the internet was shut down for a 4th straight day by authorities, as thousands took to the streets to rally against the coup that brought down revered democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government from power. The group…
- Covid-19 News
Human trafficking ‘gang’ arrested over Samut Sakhon outbreak | VIDEO
But are they scapegoats? Nearly 2 months after the Samut Sakhon outbreak put Thailand’s previously excellent Covid 19 record to the test, a series of people are now being rounded up and arrested as the key people behind the outbreak. A 45 year old Thai woman, known as Jay Phet, has been arrested for acquiring illegal Burmese migrants, getting them…
- Thailand News
Police bust alleged illegal surrogacy ring, Thai women allegedly gave birth for overseas buyers
An alleged illegal transnational surrogacy ring, posed as a cleaning company, was busted by Thailand’s cybercrime police after surrogate mothers were unable to deliver the children to buyers overseas due to travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, investigators say. Officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau raided 10 locations suspected of being involved in the underground transnational surrogacy network, arresting…
- Thailand News
Thailand blocks natural borders following Myanmar coup, bounty for human traffickers increases
With thousands of Burmese people expected to flee to Thailand following the military coup in Myanmar, Thai immigration police say they have blocked at least 7 natural border passageways. Thai immigration police chief Sompong Chingduang says he estimates around 400,000 Burmese migrants are looking to enter Thailand, adding that the bounty for the arrest of human traffickers has increased. “We…
- Thailand News
Thai police arrest 3 people for allegedly tricking women into prostitution work overseas
Police arrested 3 people for allegedly recruiting Thai women to work overseas in the United Arab Emirates where they were forced into prostitution. The suspects allegedly told the women that they would work as masseuses, promising of good pay and assuring them that the work did not involve sex, according to the Department of Special Investigations deputy director general Supat…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Weekend Bangkok bombs, Thailand fires, Covid update | January 18
369 new Covid-19 cases were reported today during the daily briefing. Most cases were detected in Samut Sakhon in a mass testing campaign. Thailand currently has 3,147 active Covid-19 cases under treatment and investigation. 12,423 infections have now been detected since the start of 2020 – 8,186 of them reported since December 20 last year… just a month back. 12…
- World News
Man arrested in China for allegedly selling his newborn baby
A man was in China allegedly sold his newborn son to an online buyer for 18,000 pounds or 722,000 baht. The father claimed the Covid-19 pandemic left him unemployed and he needed the money, so he put his baby – just 40 days old – up for sale. The alleged buyer was a woman who was unable to have children,…
- Thailand News
Digital Minister defends decision to ban Pornhub
Following backlash on the move to block PornHub and other websites considered “offensive,” the Minister of Digital Economy and Society Buddhipongse Punnakanta says he is standing by his decision, adding that the pornography violates children’s and women’s rights. Pornography is illegal in Thailand. Buddhipongse says the explicit videos gave access to users of any age. He says Pornhub not only…
- Northern Thailand News
Alleged kidnapping attempt in Isaan region, missing child found tied up
A girl was allegedly kidnapped by a group in the Isaan province Amnat Charoen. She was found with tied up and her was mouth stuffed with paper. The girl says a teenager approached her and offered candy. She said she wasn’t hungry and that she didn’t have money, but the teen allegedly replied that it was okay and he had…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Poll-Keep borders closed, quarantine exemption, heavy rain | October 7
Today’s Thailand News Today with Tim Newton… Zoos to be investigated for possible involvement in black market animal trade Zoos across Thailand will be investigated for possible involvement in the black market wildlife trade. The probe follows a case where 2 rare albino barking deer went missing at Songkhla Zoo and a top zoo official investigating the disappearance was shot and…
- Thailand News
Sex worker support group pressures Thai government to decriminalise prostitution
A sex worker support group called The Empower Foundation is hoping to persuade the Thai government to decriminalise prostitution by seeking a 10,000 signature petition. The group, based in Chiang Mai, wants penalties for selling sex removed as it says the 1960 law harbors exploitation and corruption. Such a removal would require Thailand to withdraw the Anti-Prostitution Act which saw…
- Thailand News
US accuses Chinese companies of exploitation along the Mekong River
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is accusing Chinese companies of “exploitative practices” in the Mekong River region after a new partnership has been launched to combat “transnational crimes”. Pompeo named the China Communications Construction Company as one of the big offenders and says the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for the increase in human, wildlife and drug trafficking…
- Crime News
4 pregnant women among 32 human trafficking victims dumped in forest in southern Thailand
4 pregnant women are among 32 Burmese dumped in a forest in the southern province of Chumphon after being illegally trafficked into Thailand. It’s understood the group had all been working in Malaysia until the Covid-19 crisis erupted and they lost their jobs. Thai Residents reports that they pooled all the money they had to engage a human trafficking gang…
- Politics News
US ambassador vows to help Thailand combat human trafficking
The US ambassador to Thailand is pledging to help Thailand achieve its goal to be upgraded from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in the annual US Trafficking in Persons Report. The report divides countries into tiers based on their compliance with standards outlined in the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Tier 1 comprises countries whose governments fully comply…
- Crime News
4 Uzbek women rescued from human traffickers in Pattaya
Four Uzbek women were rescued in Pattaya yesterday by Uzbekistan embassy officials and Chon Buri Provincial Police after allegedly falling victim to a human trafficking scam. A team of police raided a condominium in South Pattaya near the entrance of Phra Tamnak hill. See the video version of this story HERE: The raid comes after Chon Buri police learned from…
- Phuket News
17 kids rescued in Phuket human-trafficking raids
“All 17 children were Cambodian and were taken to the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Siray.” Thai police have taken 17 children into protective custody after a series of coordinated raids in Patong. They say the children were being exploited by a human trafficking gang, who beat them with a wire clothes hanger if they did bring…
- Crime News
2 more suspects arrested in “wombs-for-hire” scandal
Officers of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division (ATHD) of the Royal Thai Police have arrested two more suspects in an illegal transnational commercial surrogacy ring, police said yesterday. 43 year old Kulisara Pomdet was arrested in Chanthaburi and 60 year old Jakkarat Kittiwanichkul in Chiang Mai on Friday night. Police say the two were hired as brokers to lure Thai women…
- World News
“Surgical masks no guarantee against coronavirus” – medical experts
The Wuhan Coronavirus is making news around the world and the sight of people wearing face-masks is now becoming common – whether they’re in a high-risk area or not. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has upgraded the global threat level to “high.” Many countries have banned or reduced flights from China and are stepping up screening efforts at their airports.…
- South Thailand News
4 out of 19 missing Rohingya captured after Wednesday’s detention centre escape
4 Rohingya migrants who escaped with 15 others from a Songkhla detention centre earlier this week have now been captured. The superintendent of Songkhla Province’s Immigration Bureau reported yesterday that four more of the detained Rohingya had been captured. Rohingya migrants entering Thailand, often as boat passengers or smuggled on their way to Malaysia, are treated as illegal immigrants and…
- World News
Burmese authorities intercept boat carrying 173 Rohingya Muslims
FILE PHOTO: The New Humanitarian Burmese authorities have intercepted a boat and detained 173 Rohingya ‘boat people’ off the southern coast of Myanmar. They believe that the group from the Muslim minority group were heading to sea to seek a better life an avoid persecution. They were intercepted by a Navy vessel who detained the group and charged them ‘travelling illegally’.…
- Bangkok News
Foreign and Thai business partners cleared of human trafficking charges in Bangkok
PHOTO: Daily News “At the appeal hearing yesterday, the defendants had their convictions quashed after the court doubted testimony from one of the victims.” A foreign man employed as a nightclub manager in Bangkok’s notorious party zone at Nana has been acquitted of charges of human trafficking and acquiring women for prostitution. ThaiVisa reports that Michael Pearl, a 47 year old…
- Events
Pope Francis calls for action on exploitation of children, human trafficking
PHOTO: Government House Pope Francis was making calls for migrants to be made welcome and women and children to be protected from exploitation and abuse. The comments were made during the second day of activities for the leader of the world’s catholic church in Thailand today. The irony of the Pope’s comments would have surprised many with the Catholic Church…
- World News
Traffickers exploit vulnerable Vietnamese
“Many young Vietnamese head for the cities or gamble on their chances in Europe, out of devotion to their families, to escape a life of manual labour.” For a lot of Vietnamese, a job in Western Europe is seen as a path to prosperity and worth breaking the law for. And risking their lives. The risks are high and the consequences…
- Crime News
Convicted human traffickers ignore 99% of court orders in Thailand
Human traffickers in Thailand have ignored court orders to pay compensation to victims in more than the 99% of convicted cases in recent years. The flouting of the court orders is fuelling fears that many survivors could be victimised again. Thai courts have ordered traffickers to pay their victims more than $4.3 million for damages caused in about 1,335 cases…
- Crime News
Chiang Mai karaoke lounges raided over underage hostesses
PHOTO: Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Four hostesses under the age of 18 have been discovered working at two karaoke lounges in the San Kamphaeng area of Chiang Mai, east of the main city. Thailand’s ‘Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force’ worked with local immigration and police after a complaint was received. Na Kaew reports that the investigators followed…
- Crime News
Massage parlour busted in Pattaya providing sexual services and underage staff
PHOTO: Pattaya Mail Police have raided the Thong Dang Thai traditional massage parlour on Central Road, Pattaya. They allege that staff were offering sexual services to customers whilst employing underage girls. The sting operation was conducted by officers from the Centre for the Protection of Children, Women and Family and the Anti Human Trafficking, a division of the Royal Thai…
- Crime News
Pattaya bar owner arrested on human trafficking and prostitution charges
ORIGINAL PHOTO: INN News A bar owner in Pattaya has been arrested on Saturday whilst on the run from police trying to arrest her over a string of human-trafficking and prostitution charges. The Anti-Human Trafficking Division eventually arrested the 31 year old Pattaya bar owner, also known as ‘Sudarat’, ‘Om Leelabut’, and ‘Nanthachai’. Sudarat had an arrest warrant out in…
- World News
Human traffickers leave 6 Rohingya starving in abandoned building in Hat Yai
PHOTOS: Workpoint News Six Rohingya were left to die in an abandoned building located in Hat Yai, Songkhla. Members of the group eventaully left the building in search of food and officials are now searching for more hiding in the area. They had been waiting there for 5 days. Thai Police were notified by nearby villagers yesterday trying to assist…
