In releasing the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, the US State Department has maintained Thailand's Tier 2 Watchlist status which means the country is not doing enough to combat this serious crime.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha received the decision with calm. Each year, the US rates countries on their anti-trafficking actions based on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.
The Tier 2 Watchlist designation is for governments that do not fully meet the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to meet those standards. It also takes into consideration the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking or the increase in the number. At the same time, its ranking signifies a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes, and others.
Thailand was on Tier 2 ranking in 2009, before slipping to the 2 Watchlist -- or 2.5 -- in the following year. It was in 2014 that the country's position plunged to 3 which made it at risk of consequences in the form of non-humanitarian sanctions from Washington. It was rated back to the Tier 2 Watchlist in 2016.
Some rights advocates, including those at the International Labour Rights Forum, think Thailand should still be rated at the lowest ranking or Tier 3. Despite positive changes in the legal framework during 2015 and 2016, those advocates alleged the reality on the ground shows little progress.
However, it should be noted the regime deserves some credit for its continued efforts in suppressing human trafficking since it took the power in 2014. Unarguably, it fulfilled a commitment in the area where elected governments had failed over past decades.
With a series of staunch crackdowns -- a joint effort involving several state agencies -- Rohingya trafficking rings, which had used a loophole to smuggle those who suffered from discrimination in Myanmar out to labour markets in Malaysia and Indonesia via Thailand have largely disappeared.
This is not to mention that there is a belief that Washington may use the TIP designation as a political tool in dealing with other countries. While Thailand was punished with the lowest ranking in 2014, Malaysia, an immediate neighbour whose labour rights and human smuggling records were also an issue, was awarded a better position on the Tier 2 Watchlist.
Some argued the unfavourable TIP designation was a show of disapproval of Thailand's authoritarian regime which ousted a civilian government just months before the TIP report was released in June 2014.
In addition, many regarded the favour it gave to Kuala Lumpur as a friendly gesture at a time when it wanted to court Malaysian leaders to join its Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) initiative. Many saw that as an ulterior motive by the super power which failed to provide a convincing explanation for the differences.
Thailand remained on the lowest ranking for another year, and was finally upgraded to the Tier 2 Watchlist in 2016 following massive anti-trafficking operations that resulted in the arrests of several wrong-doers. Despite the efforts, it remains in the same place this year. The unfavourable ranking has much to do with delays in the judicial process which saw several arrests but few convictions especially in cases involving state officials.
The Prayut administration has every right to shrug off the unfavourable TIP designation. But it must be aware that, with or without the stick from Washington, it has moral obligations to stay committed to the anti-trafficking task and do its best to root out this serious crime.