The Central Investigation Bureau raided six locations in Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi and Chanthaburi provinces to tackle slavery in the fishing industry.
The raids followed the return of 44 Thai workers from Malaysia on Sept 3, 2021. Three of them were forced workers in the fishing industry.
Subsequent investigation found that they were among victims of organized gangs luring job seekers into forced labor on fishing boats.
Such gangs included the fake job brokers who preyed on the jobseekers who arrived in Bangkok for work. The criminals told victims that they had well-paid jobs for the job seekers but the victims were actually sent to fishing boat owners. The three victims who returned from Malaysia last year were brought to a fishing boat owner in Samut Sakhon province and their job broker received 50,000 baht per victim.
The victims on their fishing boat were brought via the Gulf of Thailand for fishing in Malaysian waters. They were forced to work 20 hours a day aboard their boat and take drugs so that they were addicted and could not leave their boats. Those who resisted were assaulted.
The crime was considered as human trafficking and police sought warrants for the arrest of suspects. (TNA)
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