Fishing Vessels Inspected in Four Provinces to Stop Human Trafficking

Thailand authorities are taking further measures to stop human trafficking. Mid-sized trawlers that arrive or depart from Thailand ports will be inspected. The new measures were announced yesterday by Joompol Sanguansin, the Fisheries department director.

Four provinces will be a part of the inspection: Chumphon, Phuket, Songkhla and Ranong. When porting in or out, vessels will need to report to authorities. Crew members will be counted. All who are on board will be checked to ensure that they have a work contract and are all legal.

Vessel licenses and fishing permits will also be inspected.

This is just the start of the “port in, port out” measures that are being put in place. When fully implemented in May, there will be 22 provinces and 26 ports that will have inspections implemented.

Also being introduced in May will be a vessel monitoring system that will act as a GPS for vessels. This is an optional system that 20 vessels have volunteered to install so far.

These strict measures are being taken to ease human trafficking that is a big part of the country’s fishing industry.

Numerous Thailand agencies have agreed to work together to provide thorough inspections at ports all over the country.

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