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Government Action Plans

Government of Thailand's Plan of Action To Prevent, Protect, Prosecute and Reintegrate (1997-2006)

National Policy To Combat Human Trafficking

The national policy states that:

   1. There must be a total elimination of entry into the commercial sex by children, both boys and girls, who are under 18 years of age;
   2. Prohibition of luring, threats, exploitation and acts of violence in the operation of the commercial sex business;
   3. Imposition of punishment to all persons who take part in the prostitution of children and punishment for officials negligent in, or choosing to ignore, their duty to enforce compliance with relevant policies, law, rules and regulations.

Prevention

Government of Thailand believes that preventative measures are more effective than any other types of measures. The government is employing several strategies to prevent induction, coercion, or trafficking of human beings into the sex industry. These include: 1) ensure that every child has access to 9 years of quality basic education, and children aged 12-15 have access to vocational education too; 2) improve the quality of teaching and learning so that school becomes a safe haven for vulnerable children; 4) encourage youth and women's social and recreational groups through community participation; 5) promote family and sex education; 6) undertake nationwide awareness campaigns that educate people about the issues of prostitution and human trafficking; 7) ensure close coordination between local NGOs and international organizations so that they can utilize their resources in an efficient manner to prevent human trafficking.
Protection

The strategies to protect the trafficking victims include: 1) setting up a system whereby complaints can be lodged, assistance can be given, and facilities can be provided for children and women; 2) creating public awareness of the issue so that the public would become the pressure group that would urge the governmental organizations or those concerned to carry out their operations against such exploitations; 3) giving assistance to those who wish to leave prostitution by providing various forms of services and training; 4) improving coordination with Thai embassies and consulates when Thai women and children abroad are found in exploitative commercial sex; 5) setting up systems in Thailand that would help foreign children and women who are lured or forced into prostitution in Thailand. The system would repatriate such victims to their countries of origin.
Prosecution

The Government of Thailand is committed to modifying and improving the judicial system to become more responsive to prosecuting offenders of human trafficking for exploitative sex. The Government is strategizing to: 1) revise the 1966 law on service premises to cover both explicit and implicit places for commercial sex business; 2) include prostitution businesses into money laundering category and law; 3) protect women and children victims and witnesses during trials against sex industry mafia members; 4) take judicial actions against recruitment agencies that act as prime agents for sending women and children as sex workers both domestically and internationally; 5) place controls on the source of production of all kinds of pornographic materials; 6) carry out police inspections at major bus and railway stations and other routes near border areas so that trafficking could be at least minimized; 7) support the foreign governments in the enforcement of laws imposing punishment on their citizens who are guilty of human trafficking offenses.
Repatriation and Integration

Government of Thailand's strategies under this category include: follow-up, monitoring, providing counseling services, providing full scale support services such as shelters, educational and vocational training, job placement, and capital acquisition for women and children who decide to leave prostitution so that they are prepared to lead a normal life.