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Anti-Trafficking Activities Undertaken in Payao, Thailand

March 25, 2006

ILO and the Royal Thai Government involved in combating trafficking.

ILO pleased with anti-trafficking measures in Payao, Thailand¹

On 22 March 2006, Mr.Sampan Suwannatap, an official from the Office of Social Development and Human Security of Payao province, reported that the advisory committee and International Labor Organization (ILO) officers who monitored the project on preventing human trafficking and rescuing trafficked children and women, were satisfied with the implementation outcomes. ILO plans to apply the good practices from multi-disciplinary working group in Payao to the human trafficking situations in the Greater Mekong Sub-region i.e Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar.

The Office stated that the strategies to monitor and cope with this issue include setting up a database, and conducting mapping of vulnerable areas which are divided into district and minor district levels. These strategies will greatly benefit the multi-disciplinary teams at the community and provincial levels who work closely with Operational Anti-Human Trafficking Center, by making anti-trafficking work more systematic and less complicated.

Payao injected with a budget of 34 million for anti-trafficking activities²

Mr.Adul Polprain, Deputy Governor of Payao Province, revealed that the strategies of poverty reduction, income generation, and social capital development highlight anti-trafficking prevention mandate which is a key component of the development agenda in Payao Province. The causes of trafficking are debt crisis, lack of cultivation areas, lack of knowledge and information, perceptions, unemployment, and migration.

The province has allocated 8% of the CEO 2006 annual budget of 27 million baht to tackle this issue. Provincial Social Development and Human Security Department has also contributed 4 million baht, and International Labour Organization (ILO) has allocated 3 million baht.

Pol. Gen. Weerasomporn Yusrisakul, the chief of Payao Police Station, said that human trafficking exists in various forms and data must be constantly updated. Furthermore information needs to be disseminated to children, women, public, and working groups to inform them about risky behavior that leads to trafficking as a form of prevention and a solution to trafficking.

Ms. Anira Tinon, Head of Home for Children and Family in Payao Province, stated that providing assistance to target groups, especially trafficked children and women, and other vulnerable groups is very difficult as victims have a hard time recovering from psychological problems. Some victims never fully recover. Therefore awareness should be raised to prevent the children and women from becoming victims.

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¹ Adapted from: "ILO pleased with anti-trafficking measures in Payao." Matichon. 24 March 2006. (Source: UNIAP Thailand).
² Adapted from: "Payao injected the budget 34 million to anti-trafficking." Manager Online. 16 February 2006. (Source: UNIAP Thailand).