BANGKOK – U.S. Department of State representative Miss Jennifer K. Hong, working on human trafficking suppression advised Thailand to expedite the enactment of more effective laws related to employment recruitment and job broker control.
Miss Jennifer K. Hong Political Affairs Officer, Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking
Miss Hong advised Deputy Permanent Secretary for Labour Arrug Phrommanee after he joined other government representatives in a discussion with Miss Hong with regards to the 2014-2015 report on monitoring and combating trafficking in persons.
According to Mr. Arrug Phrommanee, the proposed laws would help protect Thai workers as well as migrant workers from neighboring countries from falling victim to human trafficking. Miss Hong also called on Thailand to issue ministerial regulations to protect workers in the marine fishery and agricultural sectors and to expand the number of labour coordinating centres to cover 22 provinces. Miss Hong reportedly commended Thailand’s efforts for establishing such a centre in seven pilot provinces.
Miss Jennifer K. Hong also agreed with Thailand in registering alien workers and setting up coordination centres for overseas job placements in various parts of the country. Thailand has also established a hotline staffed by translators to receive complaints from migrant workers.
The Thai official went on to say that the ministry will coordinate with agencies concerned in putting the suggestions into concrete action. Results of the operation will be put into a report to be submitted to the U.S. in March 2015.