By: Nabeeha Ilyas 

Who Is Covered

Anyone who is trafficked for labor, including migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and other countries who work in Thailand’s fishing industry. It applies regardless of immigration status. 

Key Rights and Protections

• Migrant workers who are trafficked must be offered safe shelter, medical and mental health care, legal help, and help returning home or staying safely in Thailand (Section 33).

• Traffickers can be punished with 4–20 years in prison and large fines (Section 52).

• The law protects victims who were forced to commit crimes during trafficking from being punished.

• Workers cannot be forced to work through threats, lies, abuse of power, or withheld wages (Section 6).

• The government can take money or property from traffickers to help victims.

Common Violations 

• Migrant fishers are often recruited through lies or illegal channels and forced to work under dangerous and abusive conditions.

• Many victims are treated like criminals instead of receiving help—they are arrested or deported

• Police or immigration officers may ignore abuse or take bribes.

• Survivors often don’t get language help, and they fear speaking up.

• Employers are rarely punished, even when workers are abused.

 What Workers Should Know

• You do not need to be a Thai citizen to be protected by this law.

• If you have been abused or forced to work, you have the right to get help and should not be arrested for being undocumented.

• There are safe shelters, legal services, and medical help available to you.

• You should not pay high recruitment fees or be forced to work without a contract.

Where to Get Help  

• Ministry of Social Development and Human Security Thailand: 1300 (nationwide hotline)

• Labor Protection and Welfare Department: +66 2 245 4310

• International Organization for Migration (IOM) Thailand: www.iom.int/thailand

• Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN): www.mwrn.org 

Works Cited 

“Anti‑Trafficking in Persons Act, B.E. 2551 (2008).” Asean, asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Thailand197.pdf.

“Handbook on Justice for Victims.” United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 1999, www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/UNODC_Handbook_on_Justice_for_victims.pdf.

Human Rights Watch. “Hidden Chains | Rights Abuses and Forced Labor in Thailand’s Fishing Industry.” Human Rights Watch, 13 Sept. 2018, www.hrw.org/report/2018/01/23/hidden-chains/rights-abuses-and-forced-labor-thailands-fishing-industry.

“Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia.” International Labour Organization, 9 July 2024, www.ilo.org/shiptoshorerights.

Walk Free. “Thailand.” Walk Free, www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/country-studies/thailand/.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Human Trafficking in Thailand.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_Thailand.