Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon on Monday scoffed at claims by Yingluck Shinawatra that her government made significant headway in tackling human trafficking.
His comments came after the ex-premier said on her Facebook page at the weekend that her administration had made a concerted effort to address the problem.
Gen Prawit, who is also defence minister, said the present government did not mean to point any blame at the last administration, but only wanted to point out that Ms Yingluck's government did not address key issues causing human trafficking.
It also failed to amend related laws or comply with international standards, said Gen Prawit, who also heads the committee appointed to stamp out human trafficking.
The deputy premier said the government will announce that "battling human trafficking" is an official national policy on Friday and its commitment to ensure the country abides by rules to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
All sides must address problems of illegal workers, child labour or unlawful practices in the fisheries industry, he said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week accused the last government of failing to take action against human trafficking.
However, according to Ms Yingluck, agencies were asked to work out better ways to tackle human trafficking, which helped prevent Thailand being downgraded from Tier 2 of the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report in 2013.
It was finally downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest level, last year.
She said her government also discussed, at length, ways of getting the country up onto the higher tier.
Several sub-panels were formed to address particular problems, such as forced labour on fishing trawlers.
Addressing current efforts to tackle the trafficking problem, she said the key problems regarding human trafficking rest with lax law enforcement, legal problems and the administration's inability to get things done.