Thailand's junta leader today said government officials involved in the illicit trade in migrants would not be spared and vowed to "eradicate" the industry, days before the release of an influential US report ranking nations on their anti-trafficking efforts.
The kingdom, a longstanding trafficking hub, has been at pains to show it is cracking down on the illicit trade in migrants since the US relegated Thailand to the lowest tier of countries accused of failing to combat the problem in its State Department report last year.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar have been trafficked or smuggled through Thailand's southern provinces and into Malaysia in recent years.
They have been joined by increasing numbers of Bangladeshi economic migrants, some of whom have in recent weeks recounted horror stories of kidnap and coercion into a transnational trade in humans.
A belated crackdown by Thai authorities in May led to the discovery of dozens of shallow graves at an abandoned people-smuggling camp, sparking an ongoing migrant crisis with smugglers abandoning their human cargo at sea after well-established trafficking routes were disrupted.
During a speech at Thailand's first ever national anti-trafficking day, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said his "government is determined to eradicate human trafficking".
"There is no place for traffickers in this country regardless of whether they are influential figures or government officials," said Prayut, who leads Thailand's military government.
Earlier this week Thailand arrested a high-ranking Thai army officer on human trafficking charges, the first military figure in the junta-ruled kingdom to be implicated in the grim trade.
Police have issued dozens of arrest warrants in connection with their trafficking investigation, with more than 50 suspects detained so far, including some local officials.
More than 4,500 hungry and exhausted migrants have arrived on Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Bangladeshi and Myanmar soil in recent weeks.
The United Nations has estimated that about 2,500 others are still stranded in the Bay of Bengal or Andaman Sea.
Prayut, a former army chief who seized power in last year's coup before being appointed premier, also raised concerns today about the impact of trafficking on Thailand's economy.
