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While there are some studies mapping non-governmental organizations' (NGOs) responses to human trafficking, insufficient attention has been devoted to antitrafficking responses of Faith-Based Organizations (FBO). To remedy this gap, this article surveys 59 antitrafficking organizations through the analysis of their websites, assessing their level of faith-infusion and mapping their antitrafficking strategies. To identify the distinctiveness of FBOs, these are compared to their secular NGO counterparts. The survey shows that compared to their secular NGO counterparts, FBOs tend to focus more on the post-trauma stages of interventions and that FBOs tend to have individual and church-based donor networks. To further explore these patterns, I draw on qualitative case studies of three Christian FBOs in Thailand and Cambodia. Together, the survey and the case studies suggest that FBOs approach antitrafficking in a distinct spiritualized way, in particular for FBOs with higher degrees of faith-infusion. Faith is seen as an added value but employed in varied ways in antitrafficking; from integrating spirituality in programmes to de-emphasizing religious identity in favour of the theory of change emphasizing collaboration. The former illustrates the resistance to the secular paradigm while the latter illustrates adaptations to the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the design, development and implementation of an anti-trafficking intervention in Thailand, focusing on its context, supportive mechanisms, and outcomes. It reflects on a three-year engagement with government, NGOs and vulnerable workers to determine if there was a role for technology to support the initial screening phase of labour inspections. As part of this engagement we developed Apprise, a mobile app to enable proactive and robust screening of vulnerable populations for indications of labour exploitation and forced labour. The paper analyses the value sensitive and inclusive innovation process we undertook, aimed at empowering workers by enhancing their freedom to live the lives they have reason to value. We argue that, through prolonged engagements and higher levels of inclusive innovation, it is possible to uncover more of stakeholders' underlying motivations and tensions for using digital technology. We also draw from amplification theory that posits that digital technology serves an amplifier of institutional and human intent and capacity. We argue that even with the most carefully designed systems, users will (mis)use technology to serve their original purposes. We discuss critical implications on the human welfare and privacy of vulnerable workers in the use of digital tools such as Apprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate between feminist perspectives has become contested both in academic sphere and policy implementation in addressing sex trafficking. Human rights aspects remain critical either to liberate or to abolish sex trafficking. Radical feminist perspective defends the argument to eliminate sex trafficking due to the existence of physical abuses and sexual harassment within the sex industry and the cycle of sex trafficking. Contrastingly, liberal feminist also making efforts in liberating the rights of women to seek a job to be sex workers due to women's autonomy and rational choice as well as the influence of global capitalist system. Such debates, furthermore, cannot be distinguished from the influence of the rooted theories, for instance, postcolonial feminism which argue that sex trafficking is inevitable notably for the colonised countries since the women are triggered to seek for decent income through migrating to another country. In addition, poststructuralist feminism highlighted the crucial point of women's autonomy and rights. This study argues that the attempts to abolish sex trafficking and prostitution remain relevant to date since women who work as sex workers should be acknowledged as the victims of sex trafficking. Taking sex trafficking and prostitution in Thailand as the case study has eventually found that social norms and corrupted officials have become major barriers in combating sex trafficking and prostitution until recently. The government strategies together with the regional efforts hereby the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) in combating the crime of sex trafficking have shown that challenges ahead remain exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to study the child prostitution in Thailand, the factors that contribute to child prostitution and what ways can keep children out of prostitution in Thailand. This study utilized a mixed method research, in which the target population included 400 male and female investigators from all over the nation. The instrument used to collect quantitative data was a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview with a target population of 8 inquiry officers of Thailand. The data was retrieved and analysed through KMO test consisting of 8 factors: social media, child cognition and behaviour, friendship, society and child protection, difficulty and poverty, educational disadvantage, values and upbringing and family. A Juvenile Delinquency Prevention model was designed after the target group agreed upon 8 relevant factors and agreed with the model developed with an explanation. The study recommends that the state should implement strict regulations and prevention policies on the internet to discourage child prostitution sites; families and schools should be trained to prevent early sex; and schools should be on the lookout for and monitor the recruitment of girls into prostitution. Since the law and the judicial system are inadequate in preventing and suppressing child sex trafficking, the government should partner with the private sector to develop employment and earn money outside of school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present exploratory paper tackles the issue of human trafficking in Thailand. Southeast Asia is a region known as both a recipient and as an exporter of trafficked workers. It is important to understand the pull and the push factors making Thailand an important destination and conduit for human trafficking. The fishing and sex industries seem to be at the center of this phenomenon nevertheless the practice can also be found in rubber plantations and in some factories. A critical theory approach is applied and cultural context is provided so as to understand this complex phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on professional development of nine U.S. social work students of color who participated in a delegation exploring human trafficking in Thailand through a reverse mission program. Through the use of the 2015 Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) as a conceptual framework, this qualitative study provides insight into delegates' development related to professional roles and identities, understanding the complexity of social contexts, enhancing cultural humility, and sparking community engagement at home in the United States. This study points to the importance of critical reflection and peer support as tools to inspire delegates to take direct action upon return to their own contexts. Discussion of findings and implications for social work educators and students are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Human trafficking is a crime and a human rights violation that involves various and simultaneous traumatic events (sexual and physical violence, coercion). Yet, it is unknown how the patterning of violence and coercion affects the mental health of female and male trafficking survivors. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a sample of 1015 female and male survivors of trafficking who received post-trafficking assistance services in Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam. We assessed symptoms of anxiety and depression with the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Violence was measured with questions from the World Health Organization International Study on Women's Health. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify distinct patterns of violence and coercion in females and males. Novel multi-step mixture modelling techniques were employed to assess the association of the emergent classes with anxiety, depression and PTSD in females and males. Results: LCA identified two distinct classes of violence and coercion experiences in females (class I: severe sexual and physical violence and coercion (20%); class II: sexual violence and coercion (80%)) and males (class I: severe physical violence and coercion (41%); class II: personal coercion (59%)). Females in class I had a two-fold increase in the odds of anxiety (OR = 2.10; 95% CI: 1.57–2.81) and PTSD (OR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.03–4.17) compared with females in class II, but differences in the prevalence of anxiety, depression and PTSD were not significant when comparing males in class I to class II. Conclusions: Specific patterns of violence and coercion provide a more in-depth understanding of the role of gender in the experience of violence and coercion and its association with mental health in survivors of trafficking. This information could be useful to target comprehensive mental health services for female and male trafficking survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fishing is an important economic sector in many countries, and the industry's products constitute a source of protein for billions of people. Overfishing, incessant consumer demand, and poor regulation have left the industry susceptible to labor exploitation. A system dynamics model that describes the interactions of both ecological and economic systems while considering sustainability criteria both for the natural sphere (regeneration capacity of fish populations) and the economic sphere (profits and employment) was developed. The model evaluates interventions that reduce forced labor and labor trafficking, which are constituents of the economic sphere, while measuring legal and illegal labor. This study employs a novel interdisciplinary approach to the systemic planning and policymaking of initiatives that reduce forced labor while still valuing environmental and economic concerns, while accounting for the nonlinear feedback relationships and accumulation processes in the system. Using this model, the study presents empirical evidence and an explanation of how an emphasis on one policy over another impacts key metrics by providing results that are counterintuitive and highlight the need to consider the whole process - for example allocating a large portion of a budget towards awareness campaigns reduces fish stocks and over time forced labor increases. To be effective while minimizing unintended consequences, policies must be combined and implemented dynamically. Our case country in this study is Thailand—a prominent seafood exporter in the global spotlight for labor trafficking. We created a freely available online version of the model entitled "Fish-y Banks". • Overfishing, consumer demand, and weak regulation actualize labor exploitation. • A system dynamics tool evaluated policies to remediate labor exploitation. • Policy goals include economic justice and environmental sustainability. • Interventions target outreach, law enforcement actions, and consumer response are discussed. • Open access gaming platform available for policy makers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand is a popular destination for irregular labor migration from Myanmar. Among some three million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, more than half are undocumented. Undocumented migrant workers rely on brokers to smuggle them into Thailand. Some undocumented migrant workers are lured, tricked, and forced to work but they are not rewarded with a reasonable wage. A conceptual framework of the shadow sector of labor migration is formulated in this study, which attempts to explain why ethnic minorities in Myanmar are socially categorized by the level of their deprived citizenship. Those low in the hierarchy of categorization are likely to fall into the shadow sector of the labor migration process. Ethnic minorities from areas of insurgency are exposed to a high risk of human trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the significant international attention to human trafficking in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia, victims continue to experience poor outcomes after their return to Thailand. The Labour Rights Promotion Network (LPN) has assisted many returned fishermen in the difficult journey that begins after their rescue and repatriation. In this paper, we argue that the poor outcomes are the product of systemic failures in the aftercare processes, which are not sufficiently victim-centred and discourage trafficked fishermen's participation in prosecutions. This is the case in the criminal justice system, where flaws in victim identification and evidence collection can undermine trafficked persons' rights and make it extremely difficult for them to obtain compensation-a significant factor in their recovery and reintegration. This same cycle of disenfranchisement is pervasive in reintegration services at large in Thailand, many of which are overly paternalistic and neglect survivors' individual needs and interests. Civil society organisations can remediate these problems by supporting the government in its efforts to strengthen prosecutions and make the criminal justice system more victim-friendly. More broadly, civil society can contribute to a victim-centred approach that places aftercare in a larger perspective-one that extends beyond the purview of the criminal justice system. This paper will examine two emerging models in post-trafficking service provision: Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCTs) and volunteer social networks, which recognise victim empowerment not just as a means towards better law enforcement, but as an end in itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand's fishing industry relies almost exclusively on migrant workers to fill its hazardous, low-paying jobs. Recently, the industry has come under increased scrutiny due to the prevalence of forced labour and illegal fishing practices. This paper discusses the findings of a large-scale survey ( n =596) undertaken with fishers – Thai, Cambodian and Myanmar – in four coastal provinces in Thailand. The majority of fishers worked on short-haul vessels in the wild-capture sector. Using the indicators developed by the International Labour Organizations Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, 16.9% ( n =101) of respondents identified as being victims of forced labour for human trafficking. The survey results give important insight into the existence of deceptive and coercive recruitment practices, exploitative working conditions, and forced labour in the fishing industry. A concerted approach by governments and buyers is needed to eliminate forced labour practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how news media frame sex trafficking in Thailand, a country with high levels of trafficking and an understudied media landscape, has strong implications for how the public and policy makers understand and respond to the issue. This quantitative content analysis examined 15 years of trafficking coverage in five English-language Thai newspapers and found a focus on female victims, official sources and crime frames, with a lack of discussion of risk factors, solutions and high-profile criminals. In doing so, this study illuminates a problematic and tightly controlled Thai media landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case study of a young, Thai “cause lawyer”, advocacy for human rights is considered in context. The most important elements of that context are the path of development of Thai political and legal institutions, globalisation of law, and the networks of relationships that penetrate the state. The case study shows that human rights advocacy by NGO lawyers can adapt creatively to unpromising conditions under which courts provide little access or oversight. At the same time, the case study raises profound questions about the ultimate independence of cause lawyers when the state must be made a partner in order to establish the authority of law needed to make human rights advocacy possible. The ambiguity of the lawyer’s position is apparent from the relative ineffectiveness of her interventions and her growing moral authority on behalf of best practices under law. Her position suggests the limitations on law imposed by the underpinnings of the Thai state itself. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose -- The market in trafficked children bought and sold for sexual exploitation is one of the most inhumane transnational crimes that appear to have been facilitated by globalisation and its many effects, such as growing disparity in wealth between North and South. Child sex trafficking (CST) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is an extremely complex problem, deeply rooted in historical injustice, gender inequality and poverty. In addition to the complexities of the child trafficking issue, the organisations that seek to combat CST are themselves not always a united force and display their own internal and inter-agency complexities. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the key complexities of responding to CST in Thailand and Cambodia. Design/methodology/approach -- The methodology for this research consisted of 22 semi-structured interviews with anti-child trafficking experts in Thailand and Cambodia, in addition to field observations in various child sex tourism hubs in Southeast Asia. Findings -- The complexities of the CST problem in Thailand and Cambodia are discussed as well as analysis of the internal and inter-agency barriers faced by the organisations that seek to combat CST. The research finds that, due to limitations in donor funding, anti-trafficking organisations face difficulties in effectively responding to all aspects of the CST problem. The recommendation is made for improved advocacy networking against this transnational crime. Recent success stories are highlighted. Research limitations/implications -- The research for this paper involved semi-structured interviews with staff from non-government organisations and United Nations agencies, but not with government representatives. The lack of available data from Thai and Cambodian government representatives limits the ability of the researcher to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-trafficking organisations' response to the child trafficking issue. Also lacking is the voice of child trafficking victims, the key beneficiaries of anti-trafficking organisations' aid and advocacy efforts. Originality/value -- There is an abundance of literature on the subject of CST but a dearth in scholarly literature on the subject of advocacy and policy responses to CST in Southeast Asia. This paper provides a valuable contribution the knowledge base on child trafficking by analysing both the complexities of the CST issue and the complexities, for anti-trafficking organisations, of effectively combating CST in the GMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistics shows that considering the total amount of people trafficked in the world; approximately 79% of them are women and children.1 That fact has prompted the European Union to get involved in to solving this issue, especially in the countries of the Southeast Asia. Sexual exploitation of women and children in Southeast Asia, which is also closely related to sex tourism, represents a big issue in today's world. By connecting the definition of sex tourism and trafficking in persons, this paper wants to show the bond between sex tourism, which can be, and in most cases is a part of wide branch of human trafficking, but also the reactions of the European Union to that. The paper is also trying to make a distinction between free willing prostitution in those countries and forced prostitution of women and children by sexual exploitation and also which factors had the crucial role in making those countries a potential market for sex tourism and on which bases we can make assumptions about involvement of trafficking in all of that. The paper will also emphasize the problem within law regulations which strictly ban prostitution, human trafficking and any type of sexual harassment, and still women and children become victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Methods that were used for this paper are mainly based on collecting and researching written materials on related matters, field survey and documentary study. Trafficking for prostitution is becoming a major concern of human rights organizations and feminist activists as the size of the problem and its grievous effects on the lives of women and children are becoming better known and the number of trafficked persons is growing rapidly every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant fishermen are left out. Both Thailand's labor trafficking laws and anti-trafficking measures espoused by international bodies fail to effectively protect men coerced into working in Thailand's fishing industry. Thailand is a prominent destination for human trafficking victims because of the country's economic, social, and political conditions. The majority of trafficking victims identified within Thailand are migrants from Thailand's neighbors--predominantly Myanmar (Burma)--who often escape from conditions of poverty or political persecution. Because of a high demand for Thai fish products and labor shortages in the fishing industry, the commercial fishing industry is a hotbed for labor trafficking. The Government of Thailand, as a response to international pressure, increased regulatory efforts to address the experiences male labor trafficking victims face. However, these efforts neglect an essential component: how the effects of over-fishing on the nature of the fishing industry both perpetuate trafficking and thwart well-meaning reforms. Environmental mainstreaming, or the process of infusing environmental policies into traditionally non-environmental programs, would buoy current regulatory efforts and may contribute to the development of stronger, more realistic labor trafficking laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an estimated 30 protracted refugee situations around the globe, the number of refugees finding themselves in prolonged displacement is alarming. While demarcated refugee camps are a visible component of this phenomenon, the link between protracted displacement and increased risks of human trafficking is much less evident. Within refugee camps, the lack of law and order or police protection along with the presence of large numbers of helpless people create a pool of readily available supply for those who want to exploit them. This account will discuss the conditions of displacement that contribute to human trafficking risks, particularly as they relate to the protracted refugee situation of Burmese in Thailand. The case study will be followed by a number of policy and practice recommendations for the reduction of these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the border and border policing has figured as central to identifying and responding to trafficking. This article draws on original research into immigration officers' decision-making -- both at the border and within the nation -- to identify the persistent preoccupation with suspect travellers. Examining research in Australia and Thailand that spans seven years, the article brings together research that demonstrates the predominance of the binary category of victim of trafficking/unlawful migrant worker and highlights the ambiguity of daily decision-making processes that categorise women who come into contact with immigration authorities. While the policy rhetoric is based on categories and risk profiles for identifying suspected victims of trafficking or those deemed at risk, we contribute to the growing body of work that has highlighted the presence of gendered and racialised stereotypes in immigration decision-making and consider implications this may have on women's mobility across and within borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on sex slavery in Thailand, with a strong emphasis on human rights and connection to social development. Distinctions between prostitution, human trafficking, and sex slavery are presented. Factors promoting sex slavery (i.e., religion, families, sex tourism/prostitution) are examined, and the ways in which sex slavery affects human rights and individual health are explored. A sex trafficking conceptual model assessing oppression of human rights, current approaches to combat sex slavery, and suggestions for additional preventive measures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the labor and living conditions provided by the Thai government to Myanmar unskilled migrant workers with particular focus on the situation in Ranong, southern Thailand. The article is based on household-level surveys and interviews with different authorities and institutions such as government agencies, the police and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Special attention is also paid to Myanmar sex workers and the trafficking of people.

Abstract The increase of migrant workers into the Kingdom of Thailand began in the mid-1980s and early 1990s when Thailand was in transition from a low-end labour-intensive economy, to a capital-intensive one. The role of migrant workers became even more evident when Thailand encountered the economic crisis of the mid-1990s. Current statistics indicate that Thailand receives more than a million migrant workers from neighbouring countries, including Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia. This paper traces the five stages of the Royal Thai Government's (RTG) policies to managing cross-border migration and migrant worker issues in Thailand. It argues that despite the introduction of policies of management of the issue, migrant workers are vulnerable to human trafficking. Furthermore, as more often than not migrant workers are irregular migrants, they are treated as a risk to national security. As such they are vulnerable to labour exploitation. This paper analyses the problems in policy and legal enforcement between countries of origin and the RTG, suggesting ways in which these problems can be overcome to ensure compliance with international norms, and thus the responsibility of the RTG to its 'foreign workers'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses human trafficking within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in relation to the strengthened inter-state economic and infrastructural cooperation and connectivity, taking the life history of sex workers in Thailand into account. Over the last decades, Thailand became known as a hub of entertainment sectors. Traffickers often use socio-economic integration in the GMS to their advantage. A large number of trafficked women ends up in the Thai entertainment industry doing sex work in confined conditions similar to slavery. Poor women are often lured by false promises of well-paid jobs abroad and pay exorbitant fees to agents for such an opportunity. Intermediaries introduce family members to agents who promise to make arrangements for the relevant documentation and transportation across borders. Traffickers use their own marked routes to transport their prey which are more invisible than generally could be imagined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Lao PDR as a case study, this paper analyses human trafficking as discourse. Human trafficking is identified as a global discourse that is globalized through a set of powerful relations and actors. Following Appadurai, it is argued that this global discourse is not passively received by local actors such as the Lao state. This is demonstrated by unravelling the global-local interactions through which it has entered the Lao social landscape. This is complemented with an analysis of a series of events in which the human trafficking discourse is staged on Lao soil. On this basis, the paper argues that the global human trafficking discourse is actively indigenized through, amongst other things, the social practice of staging. In addition, the paper argues that this indigenized discourse is employed by actors in more localized power struggles; in this case, by the Lao state as a response to boundary crises triggered by the phenomenon of cross-border migration into Thailand as an important manifestation of the overarching process of transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the migration policy regime in Thailand using a human security lens. It suggests that insecurities experienced by migrants are partly caused or exacerbated by a migration policy regime, consisting of migration laws and regulations and non-migration related policies and programs, that pushes migrants into irregular forms of mobility and insecure employment options. These effects are worse for women migrants who have fewer resources to access legal channels while they are relegated to insecure employment in the reproductive or informal sectors. Using a gender and human security analysis, therefore, reveals how the migration policy regime, often informed by a restrictive national security approach, can clash with the human security needs of migrants by creating a large pool of unprotected irregular migrants with women occupying the most vulnerable forms of employment. In conclusion, it is suggested that this 'en-gendering' of human insecurities could be overcome if gender equality was designed into policies and guided their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many ethnic Dai women from one remote county in Southwest China seek work in Thailand. This exodus builds on a combination of regional Tai cultural affinity and interpersonal skills with Chinese/Malaysian men. Cross-border labour migration foregrounds growing neoliberal subjectivities as prior modes of trafficking evolve into trajectories of voluntary entrepreneurialism. Transnational work in Thai massage parlours blends intimate relations and monetary gain as Dai women merge the productive with the reproductive. At the same time, their movement and self-enterprise sit uneasily with cross-border disease control. Dai mobility is seen as problematic to the State body as assumptions concerning gendered and 'ethnic' sexuality and its potential to introduce HIV to China create targeted surveillance and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the causes and implications of sex trafficking of ethnic minority women in Thailand. While much research has been conducted on sex trafficking in general, the element of ethnicity in trafficking has been overlooked by academics and NGOs alike. As some of the most vulnerable social actors in Southeast Asia, women of ethnic minorities are often pressured into sex trafficking out of a lack of viable livelihood alternatives, and are further marginalized and discriminated against upon their entry into the sex trade. This paper explores the social, economic and political constraints that compel women of ethnic minorities to enter the sex trade, the economic and health implications of sex trafficking, as well as the role of the government and NGOs in perpetuating ethnic minority women's involvement in the industry. The discrimination and marginalization that women of ethnic minorities face within the Thai sex trade is an extension of the marginalization experienced by ethnic minority groups across Thailand and Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trafficking literature often mentions underage prostitution, where paedophilia and virginity sale are considered particularly appalling examples of sex trafficking. At the same time it is ubiquitously assumed that underage prostitution, epitomised by the sale of virgins as elite commodities within sex trafficking, results in considerable profits for traffickers and exploiters. I argue that such views reflect a tacit projection of classic economic theory onto migration and sex commerce. This confuses more than explains how virginity sale operates within a commercial sex market as well as how social actors within this market understand such social practices. Drawing on detailed ethnographic accounts of how the trade in virgins is taking place along the Thai-Lao border, I elucidate how recruitment, value and exchange are socially and culturally embedded practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jones L, Engstrom D, Hilliard P, Sungakawan D. Human trafficking between Thailand and Japan: lessons in recruitment, transit and control Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 203-211 © 2009 The Author, International Journal of Social Welfare © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. In this study, four women describe their experiences of human trafficking. The women were recruited in Thailand for sex work in Japan. The research sought to understand the dynamics of human trafficking from recruitment through transit and maintenance in the destination country. Content analysis was used to examine the women's stories to develop themes that described the dynamics of trafficking. The analysis revealed the following two dimensions of the victimised women's experiences: (i) vulnerability and strategies for recruitment; (ii) the methods used for transportation across borders. The implications of these findings for combating trafficking are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being a complex phenomenon, problem of trafficking is profoundly entrenched in the socio-economic, political and cultural reality of the context in which it occurs, although this may not be its immediate cause. The perpetrators are the traffickers about whom relatively little is known. This gap has to be urgently addressed, along with the demand factors, which drive trafficking. It is a fundamental violation of the rights of human beings and shows a blatant disregard for the dignity of a person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cambodian migrant workers in the Thai fishing industry are increasingly portrayed as the new 'victims of trafficking' and as 'sea slaves' who are 'forced to fish,' but are at the same time considered to be unruly and mobile workers who squander their earnings. Instead of being a result of separate migration streams or distinct groups of migrants, this article shows that these contradictions are inherent to the processes in which essentially mobile workers are immobilised at the place of destination. These immobilisation processes take place at different levels and should be understood in relation to the specificities of work in the fishing sector in general as well as the particular (migrant) labour system that has developed in certain sectors of the Thai labour market, leading to the creation of a flexible, disposable workforce that is bound to the work on Thai fishing vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years some governments and development organizations have increasingly articulated cross-border mobility as 'trafficking in persons'. The notion of a market where traffickers prey on the 'supply' of migrants that flows across international borders to meet the 'demand' for labour has become a central trope among anti-trafficking development organizations. This article problematizes such economism by drawing attention to the oscillating cross-border migration of Lao sex workers within a border zone between Laos and Thailand. It illuminates the incongruity between the recruitment of women into the sex industry along the Lao-Thai border and the market models that are employed by the anti-trafficking sector. It discusses the ways in which these cross-border markets are conceived in a context where aid programming is taking on an increasingly important role in the politics of borders. The author concludes that allusions to ideal forms of knowledge (in the guise of classic economic theory) and an emphasis on borders become necessary for anti-trafficking programmes in order to make their object of intervention legible as well as providing post-hoc rationalizations for their continuing operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, increasing attention has been given to trafficking in persons globally. Governments, international organisations and the media generally assume that trafficking is immensely profitable. This paper problematises this assumption in light of ethnographic research within the sex industry along the Thai-Lao border. It argues that the cross-border recruitment of Lao women into the Thai sex industry constitutes a mixture of capitalist logic and patron-client relationships. It is therefore not possible, as some anti-trafficking programs attempt to do, to read probabilities of trafficking out of mechanical models of profitability and unilateral maximisation of social actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article refers to Burmese migrant workers who died while being transported to job sites in Thailand and argues that Thai domestic law needs to be reformed so that migrant labor is protected from exploitation. The distinction between human smuggling and human trafficking is discussed in the context of standards set by Thai and international laws regarding exploitative situations. The political and economic conditions in Burma that lead to emigration are noted. The issue of charging the survivors with illegally entering Thailand instead of treating them as victims is discussed. The United Nations Protocols that define human rights violations, the development of anti-trafficking measures in Thailand, and the economic benefits that Burmese labor brings to Thai society are mentioned.

Since the 1990s, trafficked women and girls from neighbouring countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), including Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), Cambodia, Viet Nam, and Yunnan province in southern China, have increasingly migrated to Thailand and worked in the country’s thriving commercial sex industry. In response, the Thai government has launched a range of programmes to supplement its earlier programmes designed primarily to combat internal trafficking. This paper concentrates on one component of the Thai government’s response: repatriation and reintegration. The paper is organized as follows: First, a definition of human trafficking, particularly as it relates to women and children, is provided. Second, a succinct discussion of the history of the domestic trafficking of women and girls into commercial sex work in Thailand, focusing especially on the Thai government’s broad response to this dilemma, is given. Third, the dynamics of the relatively recent surge of trafficked women and girls from neighbouring GMS countries working in Thailand’s commercial sex industry and the Thai government’s efforts to combat this are discussed. Finally, the paper focuses on repatriation and reintegration in Thailand ; by briefly discussing the situation that trafficked women and girls confront in this process, and by defining repatriation, reintegration, and reintegration assistance. The Thai government’s repatriation and reintegration programmes are then described and critically reviewed, focusing particularly on the Kredtrakarn Protection and Occupational Development Centre. Recommendations on how to improve existing repatriation and reintegration programmes are provided. Above all, greater collaboration must take place in order to effectively and efficiently implement policies, plans, and projects to more successfully reintegrate trafficked women and girls back into neighbouring GMS countries, in particular at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, migration statistics indicate rising numbers of people who have for various reasons left their local community. Of these, a considerable proportion is below the age of 18 and often engaged in some kind of work. Yet, the phenomenon of children working beyond their localities receives little special attention in migration studies or child labour studies. It is, however, increasingly addressed under the label of human trafficking. This article critically discusses the notion of human trafficking in relation to childhood and combines this with an analysis of a set of recent studies on Lao children working in Thailand. Based on this, the article concludes with some suggestions to come to a greater understanding of, and more relevant interventions for, children working beyond their localities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to contribute new perspectives to the mail-order bride discourse and insights of transnational marriages between Thai women and European men. According to Danish and international context, there are five important themes that describe the discourse. These include the notion that the woman is a victim of illegal trafficking, Thai women are victims of violence, and represent a weak group without a social network in Denmark or connections to their country of origin. Moreover, an ethnographic context, a care-economic analysis of transnational marriages, and how a transnational network helps these marriages are presented.

Commission to look into the trafficking of children out of orphanages and into sex work in Thailand for a radio programme, Thembi Mutch embarks on a hazardous adventure – a friend working with Keren refugees on the Thai-Burma border tells her, “The police are as much a part of the problem as the armed pimps who control the kids and the traffickers. You will be taking bodyguards, won’t you?” The story moves to Cambodia and she discovers, “Lying is huge issue. When I reach Phnom Penh I am lying more on a daily basis than I ever have in my life: about my name, my job, my hotel, my nationality and what I’m doing. This is for two reasons: Cambodia’s oral culture is steeped in suspicion, rumours, smoke and mirrors. The legacy of the Khmer Rouge and grassing people up has left deep residual scars: the preceding civil war and the subsequent war with Vietnam have done nothing to engender trust and a community spirit. It makes me realise I can’t afford to let even the hotel staff know what I am doing. The other reason for all my lying is that the few people who do know about my project have advised strongly against being open, particularly in Cambodia, where it costs only $50 to hire a hit man and get rid of troublemakers.” Because of intimidation and the reluctance of those involved to tell the truth, the project ultimately fails – but Mutch is now hoping to develop the idea for television. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article focuses on organized crime of trafficking in women from Thailand to Japan for the purpose of exploiting their labor. Trafficking generates billions of dollars in profits for organized crime syndicates. The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime is limited to transnational trafficking by organized crime groups.