human trafficking
- 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
More people charged in illegal surrogacy scandal
More people involved in the surrogacy scandal turned themselves in yesterday and are now facing charges. According to the Bangkok Post, 4 doctors and a scientist are looking at charges for their alleged involvement in the illegal ring which uses Thai women to carry babies for people in China. A report yesterday says a Thai doctor faces charges for human…
- 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.…
- Crime News
Thai police scrutinised over record number of dismissed human trafficking cases
Thailand is home to about 610,000 modern-day slaves, or about one in 113 of its population of 69 million, according to the Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation. Yet Thai prosecutors turned down nearly a fifth of human trafficking cases sent to them by police last year. This has raised concerns that police were on a drive to…
- 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…
- Phuket News
‘Coconut Water Gang’ arrested for trafficking children in Phuket
PHOTO: mgronline.com “The child told him that a gang gathered some kids and forced them to sell coconut water and would beat them up sometimes.” Patong police have announced the arrest of the ‘Coconut Water Gang’. There were four suspects from Nakohn Si Thammarat. The gang was accused of trafficking children by forcing them to roam the streets of Patong…
- 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…
- Health
Thailand by numbers
The National Economics and Social Development Council have prepared some snapshot infographics which provide a window into Thai society at the moment. The stats have been prepared from information relating to Q2 this year. Key facts are… • Thai people reading more than they were four years ago • People are moving away from the agricultural sector and into blue…
- 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…
- World News
Over 600 foreigners arrested in southern Thailand for overstays and illegal entry
PHOTO: Manager 686 people have been arrested in southern Thailand, mostly foreigners, on a variety of offences of working illegally or being involved in human trafficking. Thailand’s Region 6 immigration reported that the people were arrested between July 1-25. Immigration reported… • 436 people have been arrested as illegal migrant workers and had illegally entered Thailand • 49 had no…
- Crime News
Windmill GoGo in Pattaya raided: Three arrested over prostitution and underage sex
PHOTO: รอบพัทยา Ok As difficult as it might be to believe, police have found MORE evidence of prostitution in Pattaya. Attention this time turned to the red-light district of Walking Street where regular ‘inspections’ from police and officials in the past have found ‘no prostitution’ (cough…). Police conducted a raid using an ‘undercover informant’ after receiving tip-offs the bar was…
- World News
20 smuggled Burmese, including children, found in locked Songkhla warehouse
by Santiparp Ramasutra Songkhla Police, in Thailand’s deep south, have rescued 20 scared and hungry Burmese, victims of traffickers who’d locked them inside a warehouse on the Thai-Malaysian border. Residents say they heard the sound of children crying for several days in the usually deserted warehouse in the Sadao district. Pol General Suchart Thirasawat, an inspector-general in charge of an anti-trafficking…
- World News
73 Burmese and 4 ethnic Rohingya intercepted on their way to Malaysia
PHOTO: Thai PBS Two passenger vans have been intercepted by police along the Asian Highway in Surat Thani, southern Thailand. There were 42 illegal Burmese migrant workers travelling in the two vans. The vans were transferring the migrants, including three women, from the Prachuap Khiri Khan border crossing to Yala in Thailand’s deep south on the border of Malaysia. The…
- World News
Eighteen Burmese illegal migrants found in a Songkhla camp, Thailand
PHOTOS: The Nation Eighteen Burmese illegal migrants have been found at a makeshift camp in forest near Songkhla’s Sadao district waiting waiting to be transported to Malaysia. The 16 men and two women, kept in the woods for four days and told to live on young banana stalks and creek water, were found in a forest area two kilometres away…
- South Thailand News
21 undocumented Burmese migrants found in Songkhla, alleged Thai trafficker arrested
FILE PHOTO: Malay Mail A Thai man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 21 undocumented Burmese migrants from Thailand’s south across the border into Malaysia. A resort in Tambon Patong of Songkhla’s Hat Yai district was searched by soldiers and police earlier today (Monday) and discovered five Burmese men and two women in two of the rooms. Their account…
- South Thailand News
14 smuggled Burmese migrants rescued and alleged trafficker arrested
PHOTO: Bang Klam, Songkhla Immigration police in Songkhla have arrested an alleged Burmese human trafficker and rescued 14 smuggled Burmese from a rented house in Bang Klam district. Police arrested the alleged ring leader, 29 year old Aung Chanai, not far from the rented house on the Asia highway in Moo 4 village in Tambon Tha Chang where he allegedly…
- South Thailand News
Songkhla man accused of human trafficking of Burmese
FILE PHOTO A Songkhla man has been arrested for allegedly being a member of a human trafficking ring that has been smuggling Burmese migrants into Malaysia across the southern border. 60 year old Thammasak Boonyarit was arrested at a house in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district under an arrest warrant issued by the Chumphon Court. The arrest was made a day…
- South Thailand News
12 women rescued from human trafficking ring at Malaysia border
Officials have raided a karaoke bar in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district, on the Malaysian border, rescuing 12 Lao women from prostitution. The raid against the Relax Pub in the border town was carried out at 8.30pm last night by officials from the Provincial Administration Department and DSI (Department of Special Investigation), as well as staff of an international non-governmental organisation.…
