Section 26 The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security shall be the secretariat of the
Committee and the CMP Committee and shall have powers and duties as follows:
(1) to perform administrative tasks of the Committee and the CMP Committee;
(2) to be a focal agency for coordinating and co-operating with other government agencies, and public and private organizations
concerned, both within and outside the country, in connection with the execution of this Act;
(3) to develop system of prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons, including to effectively provide services and safety
protection to the trafficked person;
(4) to compile, study and analyze data for the benefit of prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and to conduct a
research for the benefit of the execution of this Act;
(5) to develop information technology database system for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and to establish
the links thereof;
(6) to implement the decisions of the Committee and the CMP Committee or perform any other acts as entrusted by the Committee
and the CMP Committee. The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Social

Development and Human Security shall be responsible for preparing the due appropriations of the annual budget and personnel for carrying out the duties prescribed in paragraph one.

CHAPTER 3
Powers and Duties of the Competent Official

Section 27 For the purpose of prevention and suppression of the commission of the trafficking in persons, the competent official
shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) to summon any person to give statements, or submit documents or evidence;
(2) to search the body of any person, with his consent, where there is a reasonable ground to believe that such person is a trafficked
person, in case such person is a woman, the searcher shall be another woman;
(3) to search any conveyance with a reasonable ground to suspect that there is an evidence or a person falling the trafficked person
therein;
(4) to enter any dwelling place or a premise, to search, seize or attach, when there is a reasonable ground to believe that there is an
evidence of the commission of trafficking in persons, or to discover and rescue a trafficked person therein, and that by reason of delay in
obtaining a search warrant, such evidence is likely to be removed, concealed or destroyed, or such person is likely to be assaulted, relocated
or concealed.

When exercising the power under (4), the competent official must manifest that he has nothing concealed prior to the search as well as
report reason and result of the search in writing to his superior. He shall also make a copy of such report and give it to the occupier of the
searched dwelling place or premise. In case no one is there, the competent official shall deliver the copy of such report to the occupier as
soon as possible. If the search takes place between sunset and sunrise, the competent official who leads the search must, at least, be a Chief
District Officer, or a Deputy Superintendent, or an ordinary civil servant holding a position not lower than level 7. The competent official who
leads the search shall submit a copy of report describing reason and result of the search to the Provincial Court having jurisdiction over the searched area or the Criminal Court within forty-eight hours after the completion of the search, as evidence.

In exercising the powers under (2) and (3), the competent official may order his subordinate to perform the duties thereof.

While performing the duties under this Act, the competent official may request the assistance from any person nearby, but will be unable to compel such person to assist if the danger may occur to him.

Section 28 In performing the duties under this Act, the competent official shall present his identification card to the person concerned.

The competent official's identification card shall be in conformity with the form stipulated by the Minister as published in the Government Gazette.

Section 29 In case of necessity for the benefit of fact clarification in relation to the trafficking in person and the security protection of a person, where there is a reasonable ground to believe that he is a trafficked person, the competent official may temporarily take such person into his custody, but the custody shall not be over twenty four hours. The custody of such person must be reported to the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, the Director General of the Department of Special Investigation, the Director General of the Department of Social Development and Welfare or the Provincial Governor, as the case may be, without delay.

In case of necessity for the custody of any person suspicious to be a trafficked person, to any extent longer than that provided in paragraph one, the competent official shall file a petition to the Court asking for a permission order. The Court shall grant permission for a period of not more than 7 days and may impose any condition upon such permission.

The custody of person suspicious to be a trafficked person according to this Section must be placed in an appropriate place which shall not be a detention cell or prison, in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Minister.

The performance of the duties under this Section shall take into account all human rights principles seriously.

Section 30 In case where there is a reasonable ground to believe that any other document or information sent by post, telegram, telephone, facsimile, computer, communication device or equipment or any information technology media has been or may be used to commit offence of trafficking in persons, the competent official, approved by the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police or the Director General of the Department of Special Investigation or the Provincial Governor in writing, as the case may be, may submit an ex parte application to the
Criminal Court or the Provincial Court of competent territorial jurisdiction asking for an order to permit him to obtain such document or
information.

In granting permission under paragraph one, the Court shall consider the effect on individual rights or any other rights in conjunction with the following reasons and necessities:
(1) There is a reasonable ground to believe that an offence of trafficking in persons has been committed or is going to be committed;
(2) There is a reasonable ground to believe that an access to the information will result in getting the information of offence of
trafficking in persons;
(3) There is no other appropriate or more efficient method. The Court shall grant permission under paragraph one for each period of not more than 90 days and may impose any condition upon such permission. Any person involved in the document or information under such order is required to co-operate in compliance with the provision of this Section. After the permission, if it appears that the fact or a necessity is not as provided, or if there is any change in circumstances, the Court may change such permission order as appropriate.

While executing the Court order, the competent official may request any person to assist him in performing the duties. In addition, after the competent official has executed according to the permission, he shall make a report detailing the result of the execution and submit such report to the Court issuing the permission without delay.

The document or information acquired under paragraph one shall be kept and used only for the benefit of investigation and as evidence in the proceedings of trafficking in person offence, according to the regulations prescribed by the Minister.

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