The challenge of catching the ‘Big fish’

It’s not often that Thai law enforcement agencies admit to their failures but the fact that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has done so with regard to the country’s failure to prosecute top officials involved in human trafficking, gives us a whiff of hope.
Creditably, the DSI did not sing from the same hymn sheet as the government which, as expected, expressed disappointment over the US State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List listing Thailand in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2017.
The US State Department decided to leave Thailand on the watch list for another year, citing the government had not aggressively prosecuted and convicted officials complicit in trafficking crimes. According to the report, government officials continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts.
The acting director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Centre at the Department of Special Investigation, Pol Lt-Colonel Komvich Padhanarat, said the result of the TIP report reflected well on efforts to suppress human trafficking, adding that Thailand would perform better in next year’s assessment.
“I see the results of this year’s TIP report as an opportunity, as the United States’ assessment lets us know our weaknesses in fighting human trafficking so we can intensify our operation against traffickers,” Komvich said.
He said the greatest concern expressed in the report was the inability of officials to catch the so-called “big fish”, as many anti-trafficking raids had been conducted but few masterminds or high-ranking officials prosecuted.
Komvich said that the failure to prosecute was the main problem for investigators because powerful people behind human-trafficking crimes were very cautious and often did not get directly involved in crimes, but instead worked through proxies.
Moreover, arrested suspects and witnesses are often afraid of influential figures and do not testify against them, making it hard to track down masterminds and arrest them.
“This is the great challenge we have to overcome. It is very hard because our society is still full of corruption and the misuse of power,” he said.
It comes as a breath of fresh air to hear one of our top law enforcement officers speak about the real challenges we are facing, instead of toeing the usual government line. Acknowledging that there is a problem is half the battle won. The other half will require political will and backing from every sector of the society and a uniform approach by the government agencies. But that’s easier said than done. 
As pointed out by National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelaphaijit, authorities tended to have practical troubles adjusting to changes enacted by related laws and bills, many of which have been issued recently. 
For instance, while authorities have passed regulations to allow foreign human trafficking victims and witnesses to stay and work in the Kingdom, there were still problems on victim protection, work permits, and coordination, Angkhana said.
While we can sense a high degree of honesty from a man like Komvich, the same cannot be said about the people at the policy level, like Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha himself.
Trying to maintain a straight face, Prayut said the government’s work was not intended to earn a favourable evaluation from the US or anybody but sought to protect people, both Thais and foreigners, in the Kingdom according to humanitarian principles.
While there is no need to praise the benchmarks set by the Americans, Prayut could do better in terms of assuring the public and the international community that he understands and acknowledges the problems and challenges that Thailand is facing. 
Indeed, Sompong Srakaew, executive director of the NGO Labour Rights Promotion Network, was correct to point out the gap between the actual problems and legal interpretations.
For example, the freshly enacted decree on managing alien workers was intended to curb illegal treatment of migrant workers by prescribing heavy punishment for employers engaging in violations, he said. “It would be better if there were ways to facilitate legalisation procedures for those workers,” he said. “It would encourage labour registration, which would then help to prevent bribery in labour deals.”