Two Thai men described as key figures in a human trafficking ring that provides slave crews for fishing boats were arrested, officials said yesterday, as new regulations aimed at cracking down on illegal fishing took effect.
The two suspects were the latest to be arrested following an Associated Press investigation into slavery in Southeast Asia’s fishing industry.
In April, the EU gave Thailand six months to drastically combat illegal and unregulated fishing or face a seafood import ban. Thailand is a major exporter of seafood, with yearly revenues of almost 5 billion euros (US$5.4 billion), and an EU ban would seriously affect the industry.
Photo: Reuters
Thai Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officials told a news conference that the two men were “big figures” in a human trafficking syndicate in Samut Sakorn Province, the kingdom’s biggest fishing hub, and had lured about 60 victims a year since 2008.
Chayuthphong Charoenporn, 50, and Samruay Chatkrod, 53, hired middlemen to find workers at train stations, bus terminals and other public places, Lieutenant Colonel Komvich Padhanarath said.
Komvich said the middlemen would approach men who looked poor and ask them if they wanted jobs and then take them to a shelter where they were sometimes drugged or given alcohol to keep quiet — and then sold to boat owners for 30,000 baht (US$900) per person. The laborers were then taken without their consent to fishing boats near Ambon Island in Indonesia, he said.
“These two illegal brokers are quite big figures,” said Paisith Sungkahapong, director of the human trafficking division at the DSI, which is Thailand’s equivalent of the FBI.
He said the pair had admitted to human trafficking, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or capital punishment, but denied the charges of arbitrary detention.
Also yesterday, the Thai government’s new Fisheries Act took effect. The law was drafted to improve official oversight and impose stricter measures to prevent illegal practices in the fishing industry, which has come under mounting pressure from the EU.
Under the new regulations, all fishing boats are required to hold licenses, registration and legal fishing equipment and navigation systems that can be traced by authorities.
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