With reference to an article by the Human Right Watch (HRW) entitled “Thailand: Labor Abuses Persist in Fishing Fleets,” dated 15 July 2018, claiming that Thailand has failed to address adequately the labour issue in the fisheries sector, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand categorically denies such allegations and wishes to express its grave disappointment that the HRW still persists in presenting biased and unsubstantiated information which does not reflect the current situation. It also disregards the overall efforts that the Thai side has undertaken which have resulted in significant progress on the protection of labour in the Thai fisheries sector.

          Over the past three years, Thailand has made the utmost effort to protect the rights of labourers in the fisheries sector. For instance, the government has initiated the scheme to regularise irregular migrant workers and provide registered workers with greater flexibility in obtaining and extending their work permits; introduced an amendment in the regulations to allow migrant workers to change their employers and sectors of work more easily; issued new regulations requiring employers to pay their fishery workers monthly via bank transfer; approved the new Regulation of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare on Labour Inspection and Criminal Proceedings according to the Ministerial Regulation on Labour Protection in Sea Fishing Work, B.E. 2561 (2018). These measures are to enable the labour inspections and criminal proceedings in sea fishing to be conducted more swiftly and effectively, especially on the inspections of wage payment, work hours and record for the provision of leisure times; as well as develop more efficient labour complaint channels that are more accessible to migrant workers and are operated by the public sector and NGOs.

          HRW is fully aware of these new labour protection measures, which the Thai government did not just announce merely to put on a facade, but rather meant to strive towards full implementation aimed at concrete results. As a result, the situation of the fishery workers has drastically improved. This can be witnessed in a report cited by the International Labour Organization (ILO)'s Ship to Shore Rights programme, revealing the results of a Baseline Survey, on 28 February 2018, which noted the improvement in the overall labour situation in the Thai fisheries sector, such as very few reports of physical violence, significant reduction in the use of child labour, and higher rate of labour receiving minimum wages and possessing employment contracts. The ILO in Bangkok has acknowledged that Thailand is now at the forefront of addressing concerns on labour issues in the region.

          Apart from the ILO’s report, Thailand’s progress on the protection of labour in the Thai fisheries sector is also reflected in the recent announcement of Thailand being upgraded from “Tier 2 Watch List” to “Tier 2” in the U.S. Department of State’s TIP (Trafficking in Persons) Report 2018. This proves that Thailand is on the right track. Even though much remains to be done, it is grossly unfair to state that Thailand’s efforts have so far failed.

          What the HRW has called for are measures that the Thai government has already undertaken. This includes drafting and making amendments to the existing domestic laws with a view to ratifying the ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (C87), on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (C98) and on Work in Fishing Convention (C188). The drafting of the Prevention and Elimination of Forced Labour Act is currently underway to implement the provisions of the P29 (Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930), which Thailand became the first country in Asia to deposit the instrument for its ratification in June 2018. 

          Moreover, a number of measures to enhance labour inspections have been fully enforced both at Port-in/Port-out (PIPO) Centres and at sea to ensure that the fishers receive protection in accordance with the labour laws. Among others, 5 special arrest teams have been set up, the utilisation of air surveillance by aircrafts and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and the launch of sea patrols have been undertaken by an undercover vessel. All these measures have been put in place to supplement the work of the PIPO Centres in detecting and cross-checking target vessels and to speed up the arrests of offenders at sea.

          Thailand is addressing the labour issue in the fisheries sector in parallel with tackling the IUU fishing and attaches equal importance to both matters. The goal of Thailand is not only to promote sustainable fishery, but also to ensure that fishery is ethical and in accordance with human rights standards. Thailand is ready to share its experience and be a model of sustainable and responsible fishery that is in line with international standards in the region. The European Union has also recognised Thailand’s commitment to and progress made on the issue and wished to see Thailand become a partner in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labour at the regional level.