VZCZCXRO9295
RR RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0152/01 2870520
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140520Z OCT 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1178
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1269

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000152 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KTIP KWMN PGOV TH
SUBJECT: G/TIP VISIT HIGHLIGHTS STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES OF ANTI-TIP 
WORK IN NORTHERN THAILAND 
 
REF: BANGKOK 1376 (THAI GOVERNMENT PLANS MIGRANT WORKER AMNESTY) 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000152  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
------------------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------------------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) A G/TIP fact-finding mission to Northern Thailand 
reaffirmed that NGO's and Thai Government Agencies are working 
to stem the flow of trafficking in persons cases, though a 
number of problems remain.  Burmese migrants are wary of the 
consequences of a newly developed migrant worker registration 
and nationality verification program.  Also, alleged corruption 
and lack of training among local officials, especially police, 
remains pervasive.  Finally, sex trafficking victims sometimes 
begin as voluntary participants in the sex industry, only to 
find that they have been deceived about true pay, working 
conditions, working locations, and debts incurred. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Comment: While the efforts being made by the NGO's and 
law enforcement agencies to combat human trafficking have made a 
lot of progress, it is difficult not to be frustrated by the 
number of factors inhibiting greater success.  Without greater 
support in the areas of funding, training, migrant worker 
awareness and protection, better law enforcement and cooperation 
between countries, the road ahead will be difficult.  The draw 
of relatively well paid employment and a well-established 
network of labor recruiters and transporters will continue to 
ensure a supply of economic migrants, who are often undocumented 
and vulnerable to trafficking.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  On August 26 and 27, Econoff and G/TIPoff traveled to 
Chiang Mai, Mae Ai, and Mae Sai as orientation for G/TIP's 
reports officer for Thailand.  Econoff and G/TIPoff met with The 
New Life Center Foundation (NLCF), Migrant Learning Center 
(MLC), Migrant Justice Program (MJP), Migrant Assistance Program 
(MAP), International Refugee Committee (IRC), Mae Ai Legal 
Clinic (MALC), Development and Education Program for Daughters 
and Communities (DEPDC), Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit 
Northern Thailand (TRAFCORD), and the Provincial Counter Human 
Trafficking Taskforce (PCHTT). 
 
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----------------------------------- 
New registration program, same as the old, nonexistent 
registration program 
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----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)   A newly developed migrant worker registration and 
nationality verification program has been put into place in 
Thailand (reftel).  According to the Thai government, this 
program will give migrant workers protection under existing Thai 
labor laws, access to health services, and the right to travel 
while working in Thailand.  However, the feedback from multiple 
NGOs is that this program falls far short of its advertised 
benefits, and the requirement for Burmese migrant workers to 
return to Burma for nationality verification may place migrants 
in greater danger.  (Note: Cambodian and Lao migrant workers can 
have their nationality verified at centers in Thailand set up by 
their governments.  The Burmese Government refused to make 
comparable arrangements for Burmese workers, and instead 
requires them to return to Burma to verify their nationality.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) During the visit in August, numerous migrant groups 
complained that little information about the registration 
process has been shared with them and migrant communities. 
According to the migrant groups, migrants are turning to brokers 
to get them through the registration process.  Many who have 
registered have yet to see access to the mentioned services. 
One example is motor vehicles.  Currently, both registered 
migrants and illegal immigrants who register through the new 
program are barred from legal ownership of motor vehicles or 
drivers licenses, as are unregistered migrants/other illegal 
immigrants.  According to NGO representatives, this makes 
migrant workers especially susceptible to harassment and 
corruption by local authorities as they go about their daily 
tasks (including commuting to and from work).  Typical fines for 
Thai nationals who are caught using a motorbike without a 
license are $3 to $6, but $60 is often demanded of illegal 
migrant workers, according to NGOs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Another shortcoming is in the area of enforcement of 
Thai Labor laws.  Despite entitlement to the Thai minimum wage, 
unskilled migrant workers generally receive below minimum wage. 
According to advocates for migrant workers and NGOs that assist 
them, migrant worker salaries vary by locality, ranging from $4 
/day in Chiang Mai to $1.50/day in the Thai-Burma border town of 
Mae Sot Tak Province.  In addition, even if the migrant worker 
registration program was effective, how many would actually 
participate remains an open question.  Currently Burmese 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000152  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
workers, the largest migrant worker group in Northern Thailand, 
told us they know little about the registration process and 
purported benefits, and are hesitant to register out of fear the 
Burmese government will extort their family members still 
resident in Burma.  The Migrant Learning Center noted reports 
that some families in Burma of registered Burmese in Thailand 
were extorted by Burmese officials.  (Comment: We have been 
unable to substantiate reports of such exploitation.) 
 
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-------------------------- 
More police corruption to go with your departmental underfunding? 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  According to all the NGO representatives met with 
during this trip, corruption among local officials, especially 
police, remains the most significant obstacle to 
anti-trafficking efforts in Northern Thailand.  This corruption 
can include "taxes" paid to police by sex establishments in 
exchange for being tipped off ahead of raids, extortion of 
arrested illegal migrant workers, and fees paid to border 
officials to smuggle people who may end up being trafficked. 
The regional TIP Task Force acknowledged that many police are 
unaware of the trafficking problem, and NGOs also opined that 
additional training for local police about the new 
anti-trafficking-in-persons laws is still required to improve 
their understanding and use of the law. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Local law enforcement officers with the Provincial 
Counter Human Trafficking Taskforce stated that anti- human 
trafficking assignments appear less attractive for 
professionally aspiring police officers than higher profile 
crime suppression work.  This makes it difficult to keep well 
trained officers in the unit for extended periods of time, they 
asserted.  They also stated that due to the low profile nature 
of its mission, the unit has received a limited budget for 
operations, training, and staffing.   NGOs noted that most 
investigatory work on trafficking cases is done by the NGO 
community, who then hand cases off to the police for follow-up, 
which is sometimes insufficient to see cases through to 
successful completion. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
Conditions Different from What Was Expected 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU)   Much trafficking originating from northern Thailand 
involves the hill tribes and ethnic minorities from neighboring 
Burma, many of whom are stateless.  Overseas destinations for 
these victims include Malaysia, Singapore, Bahrain, Japan, South 
Korea, and South Africa. Those who find themselves victims of 
sex trafficking sometimes enter the sex industry voluntarily, 
and are then deceived about their conditions and pay, and are 
forced into situations of debt bondage. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Many Burmese refugees and hill tribe women volunteer 
to take sex industry jobs overseas due to the lure of higher 
wages only to find the working conditions and pay far worse than 
what they expected.  Many of these women incurred large debts in 
order to travel to these countries and are forced to work in the 
sex industry under sub standard conditions in order to repay 
that debt.  Those heading to South Korea and Japan were reported 
to have been recruited for what turned out to be sham marriages, 
only to be co-opted into the sex industry upon arrival. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Provincial TIP Task Force and TRAFCORD noted a 
significant number of reported cases where victims were 
trafficked to Malaysia.  TRAFCORD had on record four such cases 
in one month, and noted challenges in facing "heavy duty 
syndicates," brutal cases of trafficking, and police corruption 
in Malaysia.  The Task Force reported that some women and girls 
are recruited as housekeepers in Malaysia, and then forced to 
work in karaoke bars.  There are also serious cases of labor 
trafficking involving fishermen in Sabah, and TRAFCORD 
representatives stated the group currently has six open cases in 
which it is assisting the families of such victims to sue the 
recruitment companies that forced them onto fishing boats. 
While there have been some sex trafficking victims identified by 
Malaysian authorities, the Thai Embassy in Malaysia was denied 
access to the victims, who were "imprisoned" in Malaysian 
shelters, according to TRAFCORD. 
 
¶12. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassies Bangkok and 
Kuala Lumpur, and with G/TIP. 
ANDERSON