This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 BANGKOK 005569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EIND ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND CHILD LABOR REPORT - 2005 
 
REF: STATE 143552 
 
---------------------------------- 
Trends in Child Labor in Thailand 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶1. (U) Contradictory statistical surveys by various Royal 
Thai government (RTG) agencies involved in child labor 
issues make an estimate of the scope of the phenomenon in 
Thailand difficult.  Children found in street 
peddling/begging and other illegal industries such as 
prostitution are generally overlooked in these accountings. 
In addition, RTG official surveys ignore non-Thai children 
who make up a proportion of those found in the worst forms 
of child labor, far outstripping their share of the general 
population. In a February 2000 national labor survey, 
137,600 Thai children between 13-14 years were working, 
primarily on family farms, a practice not considered harmful 
under definitions in the Trade and Development Act. An 
additional 1.5 million children and youth in the 15-19 age 
bracket were in the labor force. This number represents a 
sharp reduction from a 1980 population and housing census, 
when 810,200 children aged 13-14 years, and 3.5 million 
children/youths aged 15-19 worked. It should be noted that 
the 1980 and 2000 surveys were conducted for different 
purposes, and with differing definitions and methodologies. 
However, independent observers of the issue agree there is a 
clear trend towards fewer Thai children entering the work 
force over the past two decades. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Better Education and Economy, Fewer Thai Children 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (U) This trend is largely due to better educational 
opportunities, rapid industrialization of the economy 
requiring more skilled adults, and to decreasing fertility 
rates. An effective national planning program reduced the 
annual rate of population growth in Thailand from 1.9 
percent in 1976 to 0.95 percent in 2003. During that period, 
children between the ages of 15-19 became a smaller slice of 
the demographic pie. In 1976, they constituted 10.8 percent 
of the total population; by 2003, that percentage had been 
reduced to 8.6 percent. 
 
¶3. (U) With fewer children in the population, fewer were 
found in the workplace.  In addition, some academics believe 
the economic crisis of 1997, which saw a sharp contraction 
in economic growth in 1998/99, further limited child labor. 
Fewer jobs were available for children, and at lower wages. 
Competition for the few jobs left increased from newly 
unemployed and under employed adults. Parents who normally 
expected children to provide income for the family therefore 
decided to place children in school instead of the 
workplace. As a result, unemployment of Thai youth increased 
more rapidly than for other segments of the population 
during the economic crisis.  In 1995, 2.4 percent of youth 
15 - 18 were unemployed; this rate quadrupled to 12 percent 
by 1999, far outpacing the increase in unemployment for 
adults. 
 
-------------- 
Child Migrants 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (U) During a first-ever accounting of migrant children in 
July 2004, 79,200 Burmese, Lao and Cambodian minors less 
than 15 years of age registered with Thai authorities. 
Children 15 -17 years of age were not disaggregated in the 
registration data, but likely reached the number of 12-14 
year olds, or 20,000. Observers believe another 15-20 
percent of migrants did not register, suggesting a total of 
about 120,000 foreign children in Thailand.  Of these, NGOs 
believe the great majority older than 10 are employed. 
Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian children all work in 
Thailand, most the dependents of adult migrant workers. 
Agriculture, informal sector work, and light work in textile 
and jewelry factories constitute the most common employment 
for these children. The foreign child workers were seldom 
included in RTG surveys and labor inspection reports, 
however, as they were usually in Thailand illegally and are 
quickly processed for deportation once discovered. 
 
¶5. (U) In March 2004, the RTG approved a new policy towards 
the 1-2 million migrants from Burma, Laos and Cambodia in 
Thailand. For the first time, children of migrants were 
allowed to register for one-year residence permits.  The 
registration also allows migrant children access to the 
compulsory education system.  However it is unclear whether 
the public school system, or non-formal education system, 
will be made available to the migrants.  If effectively 
implemented, this policy should reduce the number of migrant 
children found in work in Thailand. 
 
------------------------------ 
Legal Protections for Children 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) In general, sufficient legal protections exist for 
children in the formal economic sector.  The Labor 
Protection Act of 1998 is the primary law regulating 
employment of children under the age of 18.  The minimum 
working age of 15, stipulated in the Labor Protection Act, 
is coordinated with the mandatory national education 
requirement of 9 years. Employment of children under 15 is 
prohibited in compliance with ILO Convention 138 (Minimum 
Age for Employment), which Thailand ratified in May 2004. 
Children between the ages of 15 - 17 may be employed, but 
the prospective employer must notify the RTG Ministry of 
Labor (MOL), and work is only permitted in occupations that 
are not considered hazardous or detrimental to the child's 
health.  No more than eight hours of work per day are 
permitted for employers in the 15 - 17 age group.  The list 
of prohibited occupations is extensive, and includes: 
 
- metal melting, blowing, casting or rolling; 
- metal pressing; 
- work involving heat, cold, vibration, noise and light of 
an abnormal level which may be hazardous as prescribed in 
the Ministerial Regulations; 
- work involving hazardous chemical substances as prescribed 
in the Ministerial Regulations; 
- work involving poisonous microorganisms, which may be a 
virus, bacterium, fungus, or any other germs as prescribed 
in the Ministerial Regulations; 
- work involving poisonous substances, explosive or 
inflammable material, other than work in a fuel service 
station as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations; 
- driving or controlling a forklift or a crane as prescribed 
in the Ministerial Regulations; 
- work using an electric or motor saw; 
- work that must be done underground, underwater, in a cave, 
tunnel or mountain shaft; 
- work involving radioactivity as prescribed in the 
Ministerial Regulations; 
- cleaning of machinery or engines while in operation; 
- work which must be done on scaffolding ten meters or 
more above the ground; or 
  -- a slaughterhouse; 
  -- a gambling place; 
  -- a place of dancing, Ramwong or Rong Ngeng (traditional 
dances); 
- a place of selling and serving food, liquor, tea or other 
beverage, with a pleasing  person to treat customers, or 
with a place for relaxing, or a massage service for 
customers; or work that must be performed underground, 
underwater, in a cave, in a tunnel or in an confined place; 
- work involving radioactivity; 
- metal welding work; 
- hazardous substance transportation work; 
- hazardous chemical production work; 
- work that must be done with an instrument or machine 
whereby the worker is exposed to vibration that may be 
harmful; and 
- work involving extreme heat or cold that may be harmful, 
provided that the nature of the work is such that the 
Employee is highly exposed to danger or that the levels of 
exposure in the working environment exceed the safety 
standards prescribed in 
  -- work involving of heat, cold, vibration and noise which 
maybe harmful as follows: 
     --- work performed in a place where the temperature in 
the working environment is higher than 45 degrees Celsius; 
     --- work performed in cold storage in the production or 
preservation of food by freezing; 
     --- work using a pneumatic drill; and 
     --- work where the noise levels to which the Employee 
is exposed continuously is in excess of 85 decibels (A) for 
eight working  hours a day; 
- work involving hazardous chemicals, poisonous substances, 
explosives or inflammable materials, as follows: 
  -- production or transportation of any substance that may 
cause cancer according to the list attached hereto; 
  -- work involving cyanide; 
  -- production or transportation of flares, fireworks or 
other explosives; and 
  -- exploration, drilling, refinery, filling or loading of 
fuel oil or gas, except for work in a fuel station; 
- work involving toxic microorganisms, which may be viruses, 
bacteria, fungus or other germs, as follows: 
  -- work performed in a diagnostic laboratory; 
  -- taking care of a patient with a contagious disease 
under the law governing contagious diseases; 
  -- cleaning of a patient's utensils and clothing in a 
medical establishment; and collection, transportation, or 
disposal of rubbish or waste in a medical establishment; 
- driving or control of hoists or cranes operated by an 
engine or electricity, regardless of the manner of driving 
or control. 
 
¶7. (U) The 1998 Labor Protection Act prohibits employers of 
children aged 15 - 17 from paying employee's wages to anyone 
else than the employee, and prohibits the demanding of 
sureties, bonds or other measures to hold children in the 
workplace. This legal restriction incorporates provisions of 
the ILO Convention 29 on Forced Labor, ratified by Thailand 
in 1969. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Limited Protection for Informal Sector 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) The 1998 Labor Protection Act does not cover 
agricultural and informal sector (including domestic 
household) work, sectors which together employ about two- 
thirds of the workers in Thailand, and which have many 
workers in the 15 - 17 year age bracket - as well as 
underage workers. There are currently very limited legal 
protections for children in these sectors. Those protections 
only extend to national holidays being observed, and payment 
being made in the Thai national currency.  To address this, 
MOL regulations were issued in early 2004 to increase 
protections for child workers in informal sector work. 
Regulations concerning agricultural workers are under review 
by the RTG Council of State, the government legal advisory 
agency. Hazardous work in the agricultural sector is 
identified in the draft regulations, and prohibitions 
against children/youth participation are made. NGOs active 
in child protection have urged, however, that the additional 
protections be made in the form of new laws rather than 
ministerial regulations.  In their view, laws would ensure 
stricter implementation.  Minimum age and wage protection, 
working hours, holidays, and proper welfare including food 
and medical treatment are priorities for reform, according 
to these activists. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Other Laws Affecting Child Labor 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) A general commitment to maintaining the well-being of 
children, both Thai and foreign, in Thailand is contained in 
the reformist 1997 Constitution, which stipulates, "Children 
and youth( shall have the right to be protected by the State 
against violence and unfair treatment."  The Constitution 
also increased mandatory education from six to nine years (a 
change implemented in 2002), and increased free education 
from 9 to 12 years. 
 
¶10. (U) In addition to the Labor and Protection Act of 1998, 
other Thai laws provide for the protection of children 
include: 
 
- The National Education Act (1999). Provides for free 
education lasting twelve years, and compulsory education of 
nine years. 
 
- Amendment to the Penal Code (1999).  Imposed more severe 
penalties on persons who sexually exploit girls under 15, 
and between 15-17 years old.  Also penalizes violators who 
sell children to be beggars or to establishments which 
employ labor in a "cruel or hazardous fashion."  Amends the 
Criminal Procedure Code of 1999 to institute child-friendly 
interview protocols for child victims of abuse, trafficking, 
and labor exploitation. 
 
- Measures in the Prevention and Suppression of Trade in 
Women and Children Act (1997).  Penalizes offenders who 
traffic children for sexual or labor exploitation. Provides 
for shelter and rehabilitation for child victims of labor 
abuse. 
 
- Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act (1996). 
Increased protections for children who are victims of 
commercial sex, one of the worst forms of child labor. 
 
- Anti - Money Laundering Act (1999). Provides for seizure 
of assets of persons who exploit children in the commercial 
sex and narcotics industries. 
 
¶11. (U) In addition to these laws, in July 2003 the RTG 
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NGOs working 
in the field of child protection.  The MOU spelled out 
improved procedures for handling Thai and foreign child 
victims of the worst forms of labor exploitation.  The MOU 
specifies which RTG agency is responsible for which aspect 
of the problem, and mandates cooperation between RTG 
officials and the thirty or so NGOs involved in this area. 
¶12. (U) Implementation of the national MOU has been uneven, 
however. In the most visible incident, in September 2003 
over a hundred Cambodian children found begging or peddling 
in urban areas were deported in a mass airlift to Phnom 
Penh, far from their homes in rural western Cambodia.  No 
attempt was made to refer the children to NGOs for 
protective care and organized repatriation. 
 
¶13. (U) In November 2004, the RTG implemented guidelines to 
improve the vetting of trafficking victims among child 
beggars and street vendors from Cambodia and Burma.  Using a 
guide jointly developed by the Royal Thai Police and the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM), law 
enforcement officials (assisted by social workers and NGOs) 
now identify victims of trafficking and refer them to one of 
six regional government shelters.  The victims are able to 
stay at the shelters during any subsequent prosecution of 
traffickers.  Upon completion of their participation in any 
prosecution of traffickers, the victims are returned to 
their home country, preferably in the regional program 
implemented by IOM. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
National Strategy to Define Worst Forms 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (U) The Labor Protection Act and other Thai laws do not 
explicitly define the worst forms of child labor and 
hazardous work as defined by ILO Convention 182, which 
Thailand ratified in February 2001. The Ministry of Labor, 
with technical and financial assistance from the ILO, is 
developing a national strategy on eliminating the worst 
forms of child labor.  The plan was adopted during public 
hearings in 2003.  The appointment of a national - level 
implementing subcommittee was still pending in August 2005 
after two changes in the Labor Minister position.  Once the 
subcommittee is named, the National Strategy will be 
forwarded to the RTG Cabinet for final approval.  That 
strategy identifies the worst forms of child labor, which 
include: commercial sex work, including participation in 
pornographic movies and still photographs; labor involving 
the sale or transport of illegal drugs; labor on fishing 
boats; and agricultural work in orchards.  Once approved by 
the RTG Cabinet, relevant laws and regulations will be 
amended to reflect this new legal definition. 
 
¶15. (U) In 2004, the RTG folded a National Policy and Plan 
of Action for the Prevention and Eradication of the 
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children into a larger 
National Plan on Trafficking in Women and Children.  This 
plan addressed seven areas, namely: 1) prevention; 2) rescue 
and protection; 3) suppression and law enforcement; 4) 
repatriation and reintegration; 5) database system, 
monitoring, and assessment; 6) management mechanisms; and 7) 
international cooperation.  The plan was approved by the RTG 
Cabinet in July 2003.  A comprehensive plan of action (2005- 
2010) and indicators were developed in early 2005 concerning 
the seven outlined areas.  The action plan will soon be 
forwarded to the Cabinet for approval and budget allocation. 
International and local Thai NGOs will assist the government 
in implementation of the plan. 
 
----------------------------- 
Enforcement of Thai Labor Law 
----------------------------- 
 
¶16. (U) While Thailand has fairly good child labor laws, 
enforcement of these laws is inadequate.  Resource 
constraints in the RTG Ministry of Labor hampers enforcement 
of legal prohibitions against abuse of child labor.  MOL 
inspections of workplaces have decreased significantly since 
1997, due to budgetary constraints in the wake of Thailand's 
economic crisis. Child labor inspections have been reduced 
correspondingly, with only 1,241 workplaces inspected in 
2004 compared to 2,670 in 1996.  Twenty-one of the 
workplaces inspected showed serious violations, such as 
employing underage workers or exceeding legal work hour 
limits. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Legal Penalties for Child Labor Abuses 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (U) Penalties for abuse of child labor under the 1998 
Labor Protection Act are light and do not serve as an 
effective deterrent. Section 144 under the Act prescribes 
that any employer who violates the labor laws regarding a 
child employment must be penalized with imprisonment of not 
more than six months, or a fine not exceeding USD 2,440, or 
both. 
¶18. (U) In practice, however, violators are issued a 
warning, with sporadic follow-up visits performed by MOL 
inspectors.  Most discovered violations involve excessive 
working hours or hazardous working conditions. If the 
violation causes physical or mental harm to an employee, or 
leads to the death of an employee, an employer may be 
penalized with imprisonment of not more than one year or a 
fine not exceeding USD 4,880 or both. 
 
¶19. (U) In cases where torture or other forms of physical 
abuse (such as sexual exploitation) are involved, charges 
may be made under the Penal Code, which has more severe 
penalties.  The Penal Code specifies a range of penalties 
for rape or forcible sexual assault, depending on the age of 
the victim, degree of assault, and the physical and mental 
condition of the victim after the assault. Statutory rape of 
a child between 13-14 years of age is carries a sentence of 
4 - 20 years imprisonment, and a fine ranging from USD 190 - 
¶952. If the victim is under 13, a conviction can result in a 
jail term from 7 years to life imprisonment. 
 
¶20. (U) Penalties for trafficking in children, as set forth 
under the Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act of 
1996 and the Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in 
Women and Children Act (1997), vary according to the age of 
the victim and the method of trafficking. For offenses 
against children between 15 and 18 years, the potential 
punishment is five to fifteen years of imprisonment and a 
fine of USD 2,273 to USD 9,091.  If the offense is committed 
with deceit, threat, physical assault, immoral influence, or 
other mental coercion, the sentences and fines may be 
increased by one-third. 
 
------------------------------- 
Hidden Workers: Child Domestics 
------------------------------- 
 
¶21. (U) A 2002 survey by the RTG National Statistics Office 
reported 10,728 Thai children employed in domestic 
(household) labor, ranging in age from 12 - 17. Domestic 
workers present a special category of child worker, as they 
are largely immune from inspection by MOL officials and are 
offered few labor law protections.  MOL labor inspectors 
must obtain a warrant to inspect a private household. In 
practice, this is a time consuming process not pursued 
unless there are compelling reasons to believe there are 
underage children on the premises, or there is physical 
abuse or indentured servitude.  As economic development 
towards more skill-intensive, value-added industries 
increases, and educational opportunities broaden, fewer and 
fewer Thai children are employed in household work.  A 2002 
ILO rapid assessment suggested that the worst forms of child 
labor are not a concern among Thai children found in 
domestic work.  This is because the communities of origin 
(primarily in the poorer northeastern section of the 
country) have developed mechanisms and social networks to 
ensure confidence in the recruitment and conditions of their 
children in this labor market. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Special Problems for Foreign Domestics 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶22. (U) These networks are not present for foreign children 
in domestic work in Thailand, however.  Steady demand and 
fewer Thai children in the demographic pie have meant an 
increasing portion of child domestic workers are from 
neighboring Burma, Cambodia and Laos.  In the employer 
registration period beginning June 30, 2005 (which will end 
August 31, 2005), the Ministry of Labor, as of mid-August, 
had received requests to employ 178,588 foreign domestic 
workers, of which permission was granted for 169,754 (95 
percent).  Although statistics are not available, NGO 
observers believe roughly one-quarter to one-third of 
foreign domestics are children younger than 18. This 
suggests there are perhaps 38,000 - 51,000 foreign children 
involved in household work in Thailand. Language barriers, 
lack of access to legal assistance, and their illegal status 
have made these foreign children vulnerable to exploitation. 
The exploitation takes several forms. Indentured servitude 
and excessive working hours are the most common, together 
with salaries far below minimum wage.  In one ILO study 
group of 40 child workers in Thailand (half of whom were 
foreign), the daily wage averaged 75 cents, or about 20 
percent of the legal minimum wage for formal sector workers 
in Bangkok.  Many domestic child workers are also required 
to work in the employer's shop or small restaurant, meaning 
work days that last 12-15 hours, sometimes in hazardous 
conditions.  The increasingly foreign composition of the 
child domestic labor force in Thailand has meant employers 
must keep their illegal charges in secret, often restricting 
them to a walled residence compound. This further limits 
information on the extent of the phenomenon, and limits 
assistance to victims of child labor abuse. 
 
------------------------- 
Reports of Physical Abuse 
------------------------- 
 
¶23. (U) There are no differentiated statistics on the number 
of child workers subject to physical abuse. What accountings 
that exist, either among RTG agencies or the 30 private 
organizations that provide assistance to children, are 
uncoordinated and mix domestic abuse cases into their data. 
The physical abuse of child workers appears to occur in a 
steady minority of cases, highlighted by periodic press and 
NGO reports. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Worst Form of Child Labor - Drug Trade 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶24. (U) Thammasat University research in 1999 found that 
663,290 students at all educational levels were involved in 
drugs nationwide. There is no estimate of how many of these 
students were 17 years and younger. In 2002, a total of 
7,428 children were prosecuted for drug - related offenses, 
including 1,299 for selling narcotics.  An August, 2002 
USDOL - funded rapid assessment of 100 children involved in 
the drug trade in the Bangkok metropolitan area provided 
insight into the extent of involvement in this worst form of 
child labor. The majority in the sample group were 14 - 17 
years of age, male, Thai nationality, and had left school 
before the mandatory nine years.  Most children acting as 
"runners" (middle men between drug sellers and drug abusers) 
are recruited by older acquaintances/friends in the 
community, and retain a small profit from the drug sold 
(mostly methamphetamines.)  In some cases, older children 
aged 16 - 17 deliver drugs between a major distributor and a 
local seller.  Children are preferred as runners and 
deliverers by narcotics merchants because they are 
undemanding, and are normally not charged as adults if 
arrested.  Instead, they are remanded to police-run 
correctional homes. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Worst Form of Child Labor - Peddling and Begging 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶25. (U) Thai police continued to find foreign children 
involved in peddling and begging on urban streets.  In 
September 2003, in an effort to "clean" streets in Bangkok 
prior to an international meeting, over one hundred children 
were detained and deported to Cambodia. The incident 
highlighted the increasing problem of foreign children 
employed in peddling and begging in Thailand.   RTG 
statistics suggest the number of foreign child beggars has 
increased 40 percent since 1997, many brought to Thailand in 
organized trafficking schemes. Total numbers of current 
child street workers are not known, and the RTG immigration 
police do not segregate data on deportees by age. The 
children, evenly split between boys and girls, were employed 
in begging and selling flowers in urban areas such as 
Bangkok and Chiang Mai. An ILO study suggested wages 
averaged USD 5 per day, but noted that income likely 
included extra earnings realized through sexual 
exploitation, a danger street children are particularly 
susceptible to. 
 
¶26. (U) In general, working conditions for these children 
peddlers and beggars are difficult and dangerous.  In 
addition to the exposure to sexual abuse by customers in 
bars and shopping centers, small children must walk through 
heavy traffic to sell their goods to motorists. Exhaust 
fumes and accidents pose serious health hazards. In a 
minority of cases, child street workers are recruited into 
the criminally controlled paedophilia market in places like 
the resort city of Pattaya. Psychological harm and 
associated drug abuse, and diseases such as AIDS, are common 
among exploited children in this group. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Worst form of Child Labor - Prostitution 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶27. (U) Estimates of the number of children involved in 
prostitution in Thailand vary widely. In 2002, 
sensationalistic press and NGO accounts suggested that up to 
one million children were involved in the sex industry in 
Thailand. Knowledgeable UN and NGO observers, however, 
discount such estimates as greatly exaggerated.  A survey by 
the RTG Public Health Ministry in 1999 estimated that there 
were 12,000 - 18,000 child prostitutes in the country. The 
RTG Office of the National Commission on Women's Affairs 
reported a year later that about 20 percent of Thailand's 
Thai sex workers were under 18 years of age, or about 22,500 
- 40,000. This estimate does not include non-Thai children 
in prostitution, a proportion NGOs and RTG health 
representatives feel is increasing.  A significant number of 
child prostitutes, perhaps more than half, are non-Thai 
citizens.  The major source country is Burma, followed by 
Laos and Cambodia. Yunnan province in southern China is also 
an increasing source of child prostitutes. In addition, 
children from ethnic minority groups resident in Thailand, 
including an estimated 200 - 300,000 highland people who do 
not have legal status, have disproportionately large 
representation in the commercial sex industry. UN agencies 
and NGOs have identified this latter group's lack of access 
to legal status in Thailand as a major contributing factor 
towards this disturbing trend. Most children in prostitution 
in Thailand are girls in the 14 - 17 year old age range. 
However, a significant minority of pre-pubescent boys are 
exploited by organized pedophile rings in Bangkok and 
smaller cities such as Chiang Mai and Pattaya. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Social Programs to Prevent Child Labor 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶28. (U) There were no government - sponsored education 
campaigns on the worst forms of child labor during the past 
year. This role was filled by NGOs and international 
organizations, which are active in the field. The RTG 
entered into cooperative arrangements with local industries 
(especially the hotel industry) to encourage youth 
(particularly girls) to find employment outside of the sex 
industry and other areas of exploitative work. Vocational 
training programs, aimed at newly graduating high school 
students, also received funding during the past year. 
Although the vocational training is not intended explicitly 
for prevention of the worst forms of child labor, the 
practical effect is to increase the range of decent work 
choices for recent school graduates. These programs are only 
intended for Thai youth, however, and do not have an impact 
on the increasing large proportion of non-Thai children 
found in exploitative work. 
 
¶29. (U) The RTG established an annual quota of 200,000 
scholarships for poor Thai and stateless children (i.e., 
children of ethnic minorities born in Thailand but not 
eligible for Thai citizenship.)  The intent of the 
scholarship program is to provide educational opportunities 
for children who otherwise might be forced by financial 
circumstances to find work. 
 
¶30. (U) In addition to these efforts, the RTG implemented 
the following continuing measures: 
 
- 60,000 community leaders in villages throughout the 
country have been appointed "labor volunteers" to increase 
grassroots involvement to prevent child labor; 
 
- each of Thailand's 77 provinces have Woman and Child Labor 
Assistance centers, staffed by RTG officials and NGO 
representatives. 
 
- The MOL funds an outreach program, traveling to villages 
nationwide to disseminate information on child labor. 
 
Funding levels for these initiatives are not available. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Other Government Measures to Address Child Work 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶31. (U) The National Thai Working Group to Combat the 
Trafficking of Women and Children (TWG) coordinates the wide 
range of RTG ministries and agencies with overlapping 
responsibilities in addressing child labor exploitation and 
associated trafficking in persons.  The TWG is tasked with 
the development and coordination of national responses of 
both government agencies and NGOs to combat trafficking in 
Thailand. UNICEF, IOM and other international organizations 
are represented in the working group.  The TWG has, in 
cooperation with NGOs and international organizations, 
pushed the drafting of an effective legislative and 
regulatory framework, including several MOUs on procedures 
and coordination between RTG agencies, and capability 
building of law enforcement. 
 
ARVIZU