Thailand has put together a report on its progress in combating human trafficking cases over the past year and plans to submit it to the US Department of State by early next month.
Maj Gen Phatchasak Patirupanon, assistant to the spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, was speaking on Wednesday after a meeting of the government's committee on human-trafficking prevention and suppression. The meeting was chaired by Gen Prawit.
The progress report will be submitted along with last year's annual report on Thailand's human-trafficking situation, said Maj Gen Phatchasak.
Before the report was submitted to the panel for approval, it was vetted at several forums including non-governmental and international organisations working on anti-human trafficking in Thailand, he said. The forums were organised by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, he said.
Though the progress report will be submitted this month, he said the 2020 annual report is awaiting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's approval and should be forwarded to the US State Department by April 2.
At yesterday's committee meeting, Gen Prawit stressed the importance of speeding up measures against human trafficking and ensuring clarity and completeness in the progress report, Maj Gen Phatchasak said.
Gen Prawit has also urged the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, Royal Thai Police, Labour Ministry and Foreign Ministry to improve efficiency in law enforcement against human traffickers, Maj Gen Phatchasak said.
Thailand was given Tier 2 ranking for a second year in a row after it released its 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report in June last year.
It had the lowest ranking, Tier 3, in 2014, before it was upgraded in 2016 to Tier 2 Watchlist, a category in which countries are judged as not being fully compliant with the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
The country was moved up to Tier 2 in 2018, indicating significant progress in complying with higher standards.