Not much change in 10 years
Gemini3 summary
Based on the 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for Thailand, the U.S. State Department highlights several critical issues and recommendations specifically related to the seafood processing and fishing industries.
Thailand remains on Tier 2, reflecting significant efforts but also persistent gaps in protecting workers in these sectors. Here are the summary points specifically for seafood processing and fishing:
1. Exploitation and Forced Labor Indicators
Wage Irregularities: Employers in seafood processing and fishing frequently use confusing wage deductions (for documentation fees, advances, and other charges). This makes it difficult for workers to track their earnings accurately.
Financial Control: In several cases, employers were found to withhold workers' bank cards, effectively denying them direct access to their own wages and creating a situation of debt-based coercion.
Isolation and Mobility: Victims in the fishing sector face extreme difficulty escaping or returning home due to isolated workplaces at sea, unpaid wages, and a lack of legitimate identity documents.
2. Corruption and Complicity
Official Protection: The report cites "credible reports" that some corrupt officials protect fishing vessel owners and factory owners from law enforcement actions, inspections, and prosecutions.
Bribes: Corruption continues to undermine anti-trafficking efforts, with some officials accepting bribes to overlook labor violations in commercial sectors, including fishing.
3. Child Labor Risks
Manufacturing and Hazardous Work: Children (both Thai and migrant) remain at risk of forced labor in the broader manufacturing and hospitality industries, which includes aspects of seafood processing. Many of these children work long, irregular hours in hazardous conditions.
4. Prioritized Recommendations for the Sector
The 2025 report specifically urges the Thai government to:
Strengthen Enforcement: Strictly enforce worker protections in the fishing industry, specifically requiring electronic pay options (to prevent wage theft) and adhering to minimum age requirements.
Increase Awareness: Improve training for officials to recognize sector-specific trafficking indicators, such as debt-based coercion and the confiscation of travel documents.
Targeted Outreach: Inform vulnerable groups—including migrants and stateless communities—about the risks of "unscrupulous recruitment" and transportation practices specific to the fishing industry.
Improve Inspections: Use victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches during labor inspections and ensure that labor officials refer potential cases of forced labor to law enforcement rather than treating them as simple administrative violations.
5. Status of Protection Efforts
While the government has opened new facilities for victim identification and updated screening guidance, the report notes that inconsistent interviewing practices during labor inspections still leave many victims in the seafood sector unidentified and without access to care.
Skip the Costco Wonton Shrimp soup
- https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/1qf6epp/hand_wrapped_shrimp_wonton_ramen_is_fantastic_and/
- https://www.costco.com/disclosure-regarding-human-trafficking-and-anti-slavery.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/19/costco-cp-foods-lawsuit-alleged-slavery-prawn-supply-chain
- https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Lawsuit-accuses-Costco-of-selling-shrimp-fed-by-6453693.php
- https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/shrimp-sold-at-walmart-costco-tied-to-slave-labor/501-266283824
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