VZCZCXRO5106
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #3081 2881103
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141103Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4665
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 5713
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BANGKOK 003081 
 
Department for DRL/IL MJunk and G/TIP MTaylor 
Labor for ILAB/OCFT 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM KTIP TH
SUBJECT: Nomination for the Department of Labor's Iqbal Masih Award 
for the Elimination of Child Labor 
 
REFS: A) STATE 99123 B) Bangkok 6093 C) Bangkok 5990 
 
¶1.  Embassy Bangkok in coordination with Consulate General Chiang 
Mai enthusiastically nominates TRAFCORD for the Department of 
Labor's Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor. 
 
Nomination Package -- Data Summary 
---------------------------------- 
¶2.  Organization Name: Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit - Northern 
Thailand (TRAFCORD) 
Executive Director: Ben Svasti 
Street Address: 5th floor, Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative 
Center, Chotana Road, Chang Puek Sub-district, Muang District, 
Chiang Mai 50300 
Telephone and Fax Numbers: (66)53-121809, (66)53-121908 
Email addresses:admin@trafcord.org, report@trafcord.org, 
trafcord_cm@yahoo.com 
Website: www.trafcord.org/about_eng.php 
 
Nomination Package -- Executive Summary 
--------------------------------------- 
¶3.  Established in 2002 in response to a marked rise in cases 
involving the trafficking of women and children from the Mekong 
region, TRAFCORD, the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit, was set up 
in upper Northern Thailand.  TRAFCORD acts as a coordination center 
between government and non-government agencies active in addressing 
human trafficking (TIP) cases, particularly involving women and 
children. Sponsored by the USG, the Asia Foundation, and UNICEF, the 
unit has been at the forefront of the successful 
"multi-disciplinary" approach to trafficking cases in the region. 
When TRAFCORD employees suspect the presence of child prostitutes 
(often in a brothel or karaoke bar), they work with police, social 
workers (public or private), prosecutors, and other relevant 
government and NGO officials to rescue, rehabilitate, and repatriate 
them.  By coordinating government and private agencies prior, 
during, and after raids on suspected establishments, they help 
ensure that victims receive improved treatment and access to 
services, and that criminal cases have a better chance of being 
successfully prosecuted. 
 
¶4.  TRAFCORD's multi-disciplinary approach has been adopted by other 
organizations in Thailand, including through formal memorandums of 
understanding (MOUs) signed with relevant officials representing 
seventeen Northern provinces in Thailand.   As such, TRAFCORD has 
catalyzed the updating of procedures for dealing with TIP cases and 
coordinated their implementation, often providing training in the 
process.  TRAFCORD's work therefore also informed the key change to 
Thailand's national anti-trafficking legal framework: a new, 
comprehensive anti-TIP law that came into force in June 2008 (Refs 
B-C). 
 
¶5.  TRAFCORD's multi-disciplinary team approach, as explained in 
various international forums (from Hawaii to Rome to Geneva), has 
generated positive international attention in support of the most 
effective ways to fight against child prostitution and other TIP 
crimes.  Many, such as the Director General of the International 
Organization for Migration, have praised the unit and its staff for 
"providing useful insights and guidance."  By TRAFCORD's own 
estimation, their education efforts have also significantly reduced 
police involvement in trafficking by informing the authorities about 
the exploitative nature of the practice.  Similarly, TRAFCORD's 
comprehensive anti-child labor/TIP activities, including its public 
relations and media efforts, have raised awareness about the worst 
forms of child labor and inspired other organizations and 
individuals to adopt more effective multidisciplinary strategies to 
end them, particularly by establishing youth clubs and a network of 
community volunteers who provide valuable information about unusual 
activities in their area that could be related to TIP.  Much of this 
success has come at significant personal risk; accompanying police 
on raids against brothels and karaoke bars is dangerous, and many 
investigators have pressed on despite pleas their families to 
resign. 
 
¶6.  Due to these factors, Embassy Bangkok and Consulate General 
Chiang Mai strongly believe TRAFCORD is deserving of the Department 
of Labor's Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor. 
 
ENTWISTLE