A new study shows that convicted human traffickers in Thailand neglect a startling 99% of court orders requiring them to pay compensation to victims.
Since 2014 alone, Thai courts have ordered convicted traffickers to pay victims more than $4 million in compensation to victims for the harm and exploitation their crime caused.
In the 1,335 cases since that time, compensation has only been paid in full five times.
In recent years, Thailand has made large strides at trying to remedy its reputation as being a hub for human trafficking.
In 2019, over one thousand victims of human trafficking have already been rescued by Thai authorities.
Activists, however, are arguing that by not forcing the culprits of human trafficking to pay compensation to victims and encouraging a culture of impunity, traffickers in Thailand may be emboldened to commit future crimes.
Thailand’s government is considering a move that would amend Thailand criminal laws in order to give authorities the power to seize assets from convicted human traffickers, which could then be used to compensate victims.
The government also already compensates victims of human trafficking so they can create a new financially secure life and not fall victim to trafficking again in the future.
Human rights proponents state that the government fund for trafficking victims is not adequate enough, however.
Recently, the US State Department moved Thailand up to a Tier 2 ranking in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, which means authorities are taking significant steps to reduce human trafficking.
In related news, Thailand recently convicted a Thai child sex trafficker to 374 years in prison and ordered him to pay $26,000 in compensation to each of his five underage victims.
The man was found guilty of luring children to his home to play computer games where he then committed and filmed sexual crimes against them.
He then sold the videos of his crimes on an online chat app.
Read the full story here.
