Thailand wants tourists to help it fight sex trafficking
Thailand partners with airlines and charities to warn visitors against involvement in human trafficking, while urging them to spot and report potential cases
At Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi airport, a video repeats scenes of tourists visiting Thailand’s sunny beaches and its vibrant nightlife, but at the end comes a warning.
“Human trafficking and slavery are against the law in Thailand. Perpetrators will be severely punished,” it says, followed by a hotline number for people to report cases.
From airports to shopping malls, Thailand is ramping up a campaign targeting tourists in its latest effort to keep the country free from human trafficking, as officials eye better international ratings.
The nation is consistently ranked as one of the world’s best tourists destinations. Government data showed Thailand welcomed a record 35 million visitors in 2017, and forecast it to rise to 37.6 million this year.
But it has also come under the international spotlight in recent years over what rights groups describe as widespread human trafficking, including women forced into selling sex and fishermen trapped in conditions akin to modern slavery.
