The Root Causes of Labor Trafficking in Thailand Fishing Industry: A Long Chain of Structural Problems

Abstract

Abstract

Labor trafficking in Thailand fishing industry has placed Thailand into a spotlight for half a decade, especially in the eyes of global community. Therefore, as a major seafood and fishing-related products exporter, Thailand has been hit by negative impacts unavoidably. However, the common perception on the issue among Thais has always been merely a brutal criminal problem rather than a structural problem. This small issue, somehow, leads to the misunderstanding and the ‘inaccurate design’ of the solution, which in turn undermines the effectiveness of the efforts to tackle the problems. According to the studies, labor trafficking in Thailand fishing industry is, in fact, a long chain of intertwined structural problems, consists of number of issues such as economic, political, and social issues. The problem of labor trafficking in Thailand fishing industry has been evolved from the combination of bad working condition in the fishing industry, the Thailand rapid growth as a result of globalization and global trade, the tremendous increase of job opportunities among Thais and the labor scarcity in the fishing industry due to the outflow of Thai laborers, the domestic problems in Thailand’s neighboring countries and the obvious economic disparity between Thailand and its next-doors, and so forth. This combination created both high-demand and high-supply of migrant laborers to fulfill the system. However, due to the Thai law in the past, which was designed to reserve jobs for Thais, the mentioned demand and supply of laborers could not meet freely and legally. This led to the birth of brokers, who became the middlemen to marry the demand and supply of laborers via irregular channels. Illegal migrant workers, therefore, became vulnerable because of the lack of proper protection from the law, which made them easily exploited in the labor trafficking manners. This illustrates that labor trafficking in Thailand fishing industry is, in fact, the outcome of numerous problems that intertwined and becomes a long chain of structural problems, rather than a mere crime.

Keywords: Labor trafficking, Human trafficking, Thailand fishing industry, Structural problems