Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. (Photo: Government of Thailand /CC BY 2.0)

Thai PM promises actions against shrimp-slavery

THAILAND
Wednesday, December 16, 2015, 01:20 (GMT + 9)

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has promised to punish those who fail to properly tackle forced-labour seafood processing facilities and do not implement the correct measures.

These announcements follow the alleged slave-like working conditions of Myanmar workers at a Samut Sakhon shrimp-peeling mill exposed by the media.

Some 50 shrimp peeling sheds are registered nationwide, however hundreds more operate without official control, many using illegal labour.

The shrimp peeled by the forced labourers in such factories enters into the supply chains of major seafood exporters, and reaches US, European and Asian markets.

In fact, the seafood trade between Thailand and the EU is worth USD 500 million to USD 700 million per year, Channel News Asia reported.

Last June, the US downgraded Thailand in its annual report on human trafficking. In April, the EU gave this Asian country a yellow card for its failure to solve the problem and warned that sanctions on Thai seafood imports could get tougher if the country did not end with illegal fishing practices within six months.

Police Colonel Akarapol Punyopashtambha from the force’s Anti-Human Trafficking Centre explained that they are focusing on making the fishing industry to comply the law, “But we have to understand that things have been done certain ways for so long that it may take time for the situation to change," he added.

Thailand's fishing industry is already recovering from the effects of repression against illegal fishing by Indonesia, which has halted seafood supply chain since November last year.

Related articles:

- Thai Union ensures to be combatting labour force
- Shrimp consumers can also aid to combat slave labour
- Thai Union announces further measures to stop slave labour in its supply chain

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