Earlier this year the U.S. State Department downgraded Thailand to the same level that is shared by North Korea and Iran in regards to their human rights and trafficking record. They were moved from the Tier 2 Watch List to Tier 3, meaning that they do not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act nor are the making significant efforts to do so. According to the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for both sex and labor exploitation.
Earlier this week, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime released the 2014 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, covering 128 countries and looks at the pattern and flow of trafficked persons in the world. Each country report only included official numbers from convictions and prosecutions provided by the government, which for Thailand was 62 and 270 respectively.
Sex Tourism and Trafficking in Thailand
Thailand is infamous for sex tourism, and indeed, going into sex is seen by many Thai women as the natural order of things to make money. Other Peace Corps Volunteers who are located in the vicinity of Pattaya, the infamous hub of sex tourism in Thailand, have spoken about how the women in the village all go to work there, often leaving school once it is no longer compulsory.
But women aren’t just being given no choice but to enter sex work in Thailand; it’s estimated that there are as many as 100,000 to 200,000 Thai nationals, mostly women, who have been forced into sex work overseas. In fact, it is estimated that there are fewer Thai nationals in the sex industry in Thailand than abroad; most sex workers in Thailand have been trafficked from surrounding countries.
Combine the international reputation for the sex industry here with local attitudes that men’s sexuality just cannot be controlled and many pubescent boys are taken to brothels to “release,” and it’s a recipe for an industry valued up to 27 billion dollars.
Labor Exploitation in Thailand
However, exploitation and trafficking does not just show it’s face in the sexual realm. Perhaps much more sinister and much more dangerous is the labor exploitation that is happening here.
Thailand is one of the largest exports of shrimp to the rest of the world. Likely, the shrimp you eat was farmed in Thailand. These farms feed the shrimp using poor quality fish that is ground up in to meal, and those fish are overwhelmingly caught by Burmese slaves. The Guardian had a very well reported story on this published earlier this year. There are estimates of 500,000 people being enslaved in Thailand, and that of the 300,000 who work in the fishing industry, 90 percent of them are slaves.
What is Being Done
But what kinds of things are being done here? There are any number of outreach organizations here, that are set up to get in touch with and help show exploited people that they do not have to live this live. The majority of these organizations are focused on the sex industry, as it is easier to focus on and being able to follow up with labor slaves, especially on fishing boats that remain at sea, is especially difficult.
Relentless
But one especially bright light is an organization called Relentless. Relentless was founded by Katherine Welch, M.D. in 2011 and takes the unique focus on providing healthcare and healthcare training to outreach workers.
Welch works doing consultations and workshops globally, but focuses much of her efforts locally, as her office is based in Chiang Mai. She spends her time mostly doing workshops and trainings for organizations that do outreach, first focusing on how to provide basic healthcare and then delving deeper into common health issues that exploited people deal with, like tuberculosis or PTSD.
A small, but attention grabbing, part of the organization is partnering with the organizations to hold a clinic, which is completely mobile, for people who are being exploited to come by on their own terms and receive HIV testing, basic healthcare or even just a consultation with a doctor.
What You Can Do
If you are wanting to do something to combat the exploitation of people, check where your food is coming from, where the items you are purchasing are coming from. Looking into how it’s made and who’s making it.
If you can, make a donation to Relentless, or if you are in Thailand, or are thinking about coming, Relentless puts on an annual time-based ultramarathon race that you can participate in. Challenge people to make a donation for every kilometer you can run in six hours, or 12 hours, or 24 hours.
Unfortunately, even with a 2008 law that has brought Thai laws in compliance with international protocols, enforcement and prosecution has not followed. But with people like Welch and the organizations she partners with, we can work to fight this together.