Millions of migrant workers in Thailand's construction, agriculture and livestock industries are being exploited, but the focus on the fishing sector has diverted attention away from them, researchers said on Thursday.
Migrant workers in several industries do not get a minimum wage or overtime pay, and must contend with unsafe working and living conditions, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a report.
While Thailand had taken steps to clean up its multibillion-dollar seafood industry after it came under international scrutiny for slavery, trafficking and violence on boats, it had done little to regulate conditions in other sectors, it said.
"The singular focus has diverted attention away from similar problems occurring elsewhere in Thailand," the IOM said in the report released in Bangkok.
Exploitative practices have been recorded in domestic work, sex work, construction, agriculture, livestock, hospitality, garment manufacturing and other sectors, "yet they have received much less effort and investment to improve conditions".
There are about 4.9 million migrants in Thailand, making up more than 10% of the country's workforce, according to the IOM. Most are from poorer neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Since taking power in a 2014 coup, the ruling junta had taken a more restrictive approach to the foreign workforce.
The country had taken some steps to tackle abuse, eliminating recruitment fees paid by workers, and banning the practice of withholding identification documents.
Yet because recruitment systems and governance frameworks were not effective, workers were "vulnerable to exploitation at various points during the migration process", the IOM said.
The agricultural sector had high levels of informal work combined with low wages and use of child labour, while sex workers faced harassment and the threat of arrest because they were not covered by Thailand's labour laws, it said.
One activist said extensive media coverage and the financial implications of a ban on seafood exports had led the authorities to act, even as abuses in other sectors remained unreported.
"Perhaps people believe slavery at sea to be more compelling than slavery on land," said Debbie Stothard, secretary general at the International Federation for Human Rights, an advocacy group.
"So there's been far less outrage and attention to abuses in other industries," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Earlier this month, the European Union withdrew its threat to ban Thai fishing imports, saying it recognised the country's efforts to tackle human trafficking and improve labour conditions.
In a rare victory for migrant workers, the Supreme Court on Jan 15 ordered compensation be paid to 14 migrant labourers from Myanmar whose accusations of abuse at a chicken farm sparked a landmark legal case.