Thailand human trafficking scandal – more than 100 suspects face charges

The Thai crackdown had scared traffickers into abandoning up to 4,500 migrants on boats in the Andaman Sea.

Office of the Attorney General spokesman Wanchai Roujanavong was quoted by The Associated Press as saying 91 Thais, 9 Myanmar nationals and four Bangladeshis face 16 charges, including human trafficking, participating in an global crime network and transporting aliens into the country.

The suspects include local politicians, government officials, police, and Lt Gen Manas Kongpan, who once oversaw trafficking issues in south Thailand.

Police say they have now successfully dismantled the trafficking network through the kingdom. “It caused a lot of damage to the country as there were dead bodies found”, Mr Wancha said.

The senior army official is charged with being a major smuggling kingpin.

“We will indict all 72 people who have been arrested“, Wanchai Roujanavong, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, told a news conference.

About 50 police officers in the southern provinces were removed from their posts and investigated for possible involvement in trafficking syndicates.

Numerous camps have been discovered and 120 people arrested, including General Manas Kongpan, after documents showing money transfers to his bank accounts were recovered at an alleged human trafficker’s house.

Human rights groups have long accused Thai authorities of collusion in the trafficking industry, but officials have routinely denied the claims.

Recommended: Take Action:Who is working to stop the trafficking of people, especially children and women around the world, both as slaves and sex workers? The status would normally trigger sanctions, but they have not been imposed.

These people are being trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.

On Monday the US will publish its latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

The announcement comes ahead of a report due to be released next week by the U.S. about ‘s efforts to crack down on human trafficking.

A regional summit held in Bangkok on May 29 – with the participation of Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Myanmar and Bangladeshi officials as well as United Nations, U.S. and European Union representatives – had resolved to “intensify search and rescue operations” for migrants stranded at sea. Mass graves in Malaysia and Thailand were discovered in May, according to The Christian Science Monitor’s Robert Marquand. Last year, the group also indicated that Thailand has worsening human rights issues.