VZCZCXRO9589
PP RUEHCHI
DE RUEHBK #7499/01 3540737
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200737Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3524
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 2853
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 3334
RUEHPF/AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH 1904
RUEHVN/AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE 3034
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 5004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 007499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, DRL/IL, EAP/MLS 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ETRD KCRM KWMN SMIG PHUM TH
SUBJECT: BURMESE TRAFFICKING CASE PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON MIGRANT LABOR 
PRACTICES 
 
REF:  BANGKOK 6420 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: RTG officials are dealing with the aftermath of a 
labor trafficking raid that has raised questions about the RTG's 
capacity to effectively monitor labor conditions among Burmese 
migrant workers, especially in the seafood processing industry in 
Samut Sakhon.  Poverty in Burma and a time-limited migrant 
registration program in Thailand have combined with the poor 
inspection capacity of the Ministry of Labor to exacerbate the 
market for illegal Burmese labor - a market which leaves laborers 
vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.  The Thai police and its 
new anti-trafficking chief have responded quickly, rounding up at 
least one suspect in the case who may have killed a police 
investigator earlier this month.  But Ministry of Labor officials 
need to improve coordination with NGOs, the police, and other 
ministries to provide options to Burmese migrant workers - options 
that go beyond the usual choices of remaining with abusive employers 
or being deported.  End Summary. 
 
Samut Sakhon Background 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) In the aftermath of the September 14 police raid (reftel) on 
a seafood processing factory in Samut Sakhon using underpaid and 
abused migrant laborers, Thai police and ministry officials are 
still divided over how to treat labor trafficking victims and 
protect them from future mistreatment.  The 66 workers classified by 
the RTG as TIP victims remain housed at two government shelters 
while investigations continue, over three months after the raid, and 
the factory itself continues to operate with the owners free on 
bail. 
 
¶3. (U) Of the almost 800 Burmese migrant workers found at the 
factory, 70 were voluntarily deported within days as illegal, 
unregistered migrants, and with another 66 sent to the Bangkok 
shelters after being classified as TIP victims.  Police have 
revealed that, contrary to our earlier understanding, the owners of 
the Ranya Paew factory in Samut Sakhon were indeed tipped off (by 
unknown sources) about the raid two hours before it occurred, and 
may have had the opportunity to ship additional workers off the 
premises to other locations. 
 
¶4. (U) Many of the workers continuing to work at the factory, who 
chose not to be repatriated to Burma, would have preferred to 
continue work in Thailand with another employer.  However, Ministry 
of Labor officials prevented them from being removed by police and 
changing employers without going through a formal complaint 
procedure and employment application process.  It is unclear how 
these workers can apply to seek new employers, given their virtual 
isolation on the walled factory compound and lack of communication 
with labor officials, none of whom were able to speak Burmese during 
the September 14 raid.  Ministry officials say they have sought to 
educate the police and NGOs on the need to abide by migrant labor 
law, which prohibits workers from switching between employers 
without the consent of the Ministry.  There is no evidence, however, 
that Ministry officials have sought to follow up with workers 
remaining at the factory to determine their preference. 
 
¶5. (U) Officers in Crime Suppression Division 4 (CSD 4), the police 
unit charged with handling TIP issues, have been interviewing the 66 
classified TIP victims for potential criminal prosecution against 
the Ranya Paew owners.  Interviews with those workers - all women - 
by NGOs and police investigators has revealed a systematic pattern 
of physical abuse by the owners, who kept the workers locked into 
the factory compound for up to several years at a time, paying an 
average of 1 USD per day's work (compared to the legal minimum wage 
of nearly 6 USD) for periods that often exceeded 10 hours a day. 
 
¶6. (U) Besides the pending criminal charges, the Thai Labor Ministry 
has brought forth a number of labor law violations, which were 
announced in Thailand's Labor Court on December 14 with proceedings 
to continue on December 25.  A member of Thailand's Human Rights 
Commission, who is also a lawyer with the Law Society of Thailand, 
has also filed a 70 million baht civil suit against the factory 
owners on behalf of the 66 workers. 
 
¶7. (U) NGOs, U.N. anti-trafficking experts and the Embassy have 
urged the Thai government to proceed with the criminal and civil 
cases expeditiously and avoid prolonging the detention of the 66 TIP 
victims in the Bangkok shelters.  The victims, who have all 
expressed a desire to return to Burma to support their families, 
face the prospect of remaining detained until the court cases are 
completed, a process that could take many months.  Several have 
complained to NGOs and U.N. officials about the repetitive 
interviews they have given to various investigators, and the lack of 
 
BANGKOK 00007499  002 OF 003 
 
 
a timeline for possible repatriation.  Most have no desire to 
continue their cooperation in the case, and have voiced regrets 
about agreeing to be sheltered rather than being immediately 
deported. 
 
Trafficking Suspect Arrested 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Separately, Thai police this month have been investigating a 
likely trafficking operation to Samut Sakhon that came to light 
following the murder of a policeman 250 miles away in Mae Sot 
district along the Burmese border.  A 49-year old Thai naval 
officer, Capt. Tewarat Mangkon, has been accused of murdering a 
policeman who disappeared on December 2 after visiting the suspect's 
home.  Police investigators on December 8 discovered the policeman's 
body, and his motorcycle, buried on the suspect's premises, which 
included a large warehouse occupied by Burmese workers. 
Interrogation of the suspect's relatives indicated that he was 
operating a labor supply business and used the warehouse as a 
transit point for illegal Burmese workers headed for Samut Sakhon. 
 
 
¶9. (U) Police Gen. Wongkot Maneerin, recently appointed to head the 
Thai police's anti-trafficking division, told Embassy officers on 
December 12 that police subsequently raided a home in Samut Sakhon 
owned by the suspect's wife, and found two refrigerated seafood 
trucks that had been converted to transport 20-25 people at a time. 
The police also found an additional storage facility, surrounded by 
barbed wire and guard dogs, which was being used to temporarily 
house workers destined for factories in the region.  An illegal 
female Burmese worker was on the premises at the time, and police 
removed her to a government shelter.  Wongkot said that the findings 
pointed to a well-organized trafficking route bringing illegal 
workers from the Mae Sot area, bordering Burma, to work in shrimp 
and fish processing plants in Samut Sakhon on the southern Gulf of 
Thailand. 
 
¶10. (U) Wongkot said that although police had not yet determined 
whether this particular labor network supplied the Ranya Paew 
factory, evidence was clear that factories in the region were 
obtaining workers from a number of different labor agents.  Wongkot 
said police had yet to determine the motive for the December 2 
killing of the policeman, saying that the policeman had gone to the 
suspect's home on his own initiative and had not informed colleagues 
of his activities.  Wongkot speculated that the policeman was either 
following up a trafficking lead on his own (related to either drugs 
or labor), or possibly was involved in the ring himself and had been 
in a dispute with the principal suspect. 
 
¶11. (U) Wongkot said that the trafficking operations uncovered in 
Samut Sakhon demonstrated the weaknesses of Thailand's current 
migrant labor law, which only registered migrant workers during a 
specific time period each year and did not account for seasonal 
business fluctuations.  The agricultural, fishing and textile 
industries, he said, need to lay off and re-hire workers several 
times a year, and the registration system did not have the 
flexibility to provide workers when needed.  Hence, factory and farm 
owners turned to illegal labor, while informal labor brokers 
profited from the labor trade by transporting workers from Burma. 
Wongkot said that he had scheduled talks with the Minister of Labor 
in late December to discuss the law, and planned further 
consultations with the Governor of Samut Sakhon to improve labor law 
enforcement in the region. 
 
Scrutiny on Migrant Labor Program 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (U) This case has occurred amid increasing scrutiny of 
Thailand's treatment of migrant laborers, highlighted in an 
International Labor Organization (ILO) report issued on December 13, 
which documents widespread abuse and underpayment of the nearly 
400,000 legally registered migrant workers in Thailand.  The report 
estimates that more than 800,000 migrant workers are in Thailand 
illegally.  Ministry of Labor officials claim that abusive 
conditions for migrant workers exist throughout the world, and that 
Thailand cannot afford to open its migrant registration program 
throughout the year for fear of attracting an incontrollable wave of 
immigration.  An ILO child labor expert told Laboff on December 12 
that employers in the Samut Sakhon area appear to have banded 
together to share the cheap illegal labor pool, and have used 
intimidation tactics against provincial labor inspectors to prevent 
rigorous inspection of labor conditions.  (Note: evidence found 
during the September 14 raid turned up a substantial cache of 
firearms in the possession of the factory owners.) 
 
 
BANGKOK 00007499  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶13. (U) Labor experts agree that Ministry of Labor officials must 
reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers by first improving 
communication between its inspectors and laborers to determine true 
conditions in the workplace.  The Ministry should provide an avenue 
for workers to quickly change employers without fear of retaliation. 
 By most accounts, labor inspections - which themselves are few and 
far between - are limited to simple checklist interviews with 
employers and little contact with workers on the premises.  Ministry 
officials need to hire Burmese speakers, or enlist Burmese worker 
NGOs, to provide translation during their visits.  They also must 
prohibit employers from seizing worker IDs, a common practice which 
effectively prevents workers from leaving the workplace or accessing 
health services. 
 
¶14. (U) Comment: The Embassy has advised both the Ministry of Labor 
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that progress on these and other 
labor issues will be factored into our annual assessment of 
anti-trafficking efforts in Thailand.  We are impressed by the early 
efforts of Gen. Wongkot, a police cadet classmate and long-time 
friend of former Prime Minister Thaksin, who was considered a 
serious candidate for national chief of police prior to the 
September 19 coup.  He has taken initial steps to establish TIP 
protection centers in all bureaus and provincial offices of the 
Royal Thai Police force.  Wongkot's wife was a founder and treasurer 
of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party and a former deputy minister 
in Thaksin's education and public health ministries.  She has since 
publicly tried to distance herself from the Thaksin government and 
TRT. 
 
Arvizu