Pope urges respect for prostitutes at crowded Bangkok mass

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, Jenny VAUGHAN, November 21, 2019

Pope Francis arrived at the stadium in a golden robe woven for him from Thai silk
(AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

Bangkok (AFP) - Pope Francis led an impassioned mass for tens of thousands of emotional worshippers at a packed Bangkok stadium Thursday, urging respect for prostitutes and trafficking victims in a part of the world where sex work is rampant.

The remarks came at the end of a whirlwind day of meetings for Pope Francis, who is on his first trip to Buddhist-majority Thailand where he is carrying a message of religious harmony and peace.

He heads to Japan next, visiting the twin atomic bombs sites of Nagasaki and Hiroshima where he will seek a ban on "immoral" nuclear weapons.

The 82-year-old arrived at the stadium in a golden robe woven for him from Thai silk, greeting crowds of flag-waving faithful, some wiping tears from their faces at the sight of the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

An estimated 60,000 worshippers gathered for the mass (AFP Photo/Mohd RASFAN)

An estimated 60,000 worshippers gathered for the mass, some pouring into a nearby stadium to watch the hymn-filled service on large screens.

Known for his down-to-earth style, the Pope did not shy away from difficult topics.

He focused on the importance of helping vulnerable children and women "who are victims of prostitution and human trafficking, humiliated in their essential human dignity".

He also referred to drug addicts, migrants and "exploited sinners and bypassed beggars".

"All of them are part of our family. They are our mothers, our brothers and sisters. Let us not deprive our communities of seeing their faces, their wounds, their smiles and their lives," said the Pope, after leading prayers.

Performers dance after a Holy Mass led by Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Lillian

SUWANRUMPHA)

The remarks were delivered in a region beloved by tourists but infamous for a thriving sex trade and unchecked human trafficking.

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, home to at least 300,000 sex workers -- some four percent of whom are believed to be trafficked, according to official estimates.

Many women are drawn to the work because they can earn up to 10 times more than the minimum wage, and critics say some corrupt Thai authorities turn a blind eye to the thriving trade.

Earlier, the Pope praised Thailand's efforts to stamp out the "scourge" of exploitation and enslavement of women and children, urging a "dignified" future for vulnerable youth.

The Catholic Church has been shaken by child sex abuse scandals itself in recent years, with many high-profile cases brought against clergy.

Known for his down-to-earth style, the Pope did not shy away from difficult topics 

at the mass (AFP Photo/Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

'Gift from God'

Thailand has not had a visit from a pontiff since John Paul II in 1984, and the small but spirited Catholic community was thrilled ahead of the mass.

Just over 0.5 percent of the population is Catholic but the community has been here for centuries.

For Pimrapat Panyawattanatikul, the service was her second shot at seeing a pope after John Paul II touched her head some 35 years ago.

Now she's hoping her mother will get a similar honour, with the pair sitting right on the track Francis was set to drive past in his Popemobile.

Francis paid a visit to the supreme Buddhist patriarch Somdej Phra Maha 

Muneewong at one of Bangkok's famed gilded temples (AFP Photo/Handout)

"It's a miracle we got these seats. It's my mom's dream to see the pope and to go to Italy. This is a gift from God," Pimrapat told AFP, her mother next to her clutching a rosary.

The Pope's colourful mass capped a packed schedule on the first full day of Thailand where he was welcomed Wednesday by cheering worshippers in Bangkok eager for a glimpse of his motorcade.

On Thursday Francis followed in the footsteps of John Paul II, paying a visit to the supreme Buddhist patriarch Somdej Phra Maha Muneewong at one of Bangkok's famed gilded temples.

The pair sat before a brilliant gold Buddha statue inside the ornate temple, built 150 years ago by the former Thai King -- the supreme patriarch barefoot and draped in orange robes as they spoke.

Thailand has not had a visit from a pontiff since John Paul II in 1984 (AFP Photo/

Vincenzo PINTO)

The Pope reciprocated the gesture, removing his shoes for part of the tete-a-tete.

In an earlier speech, the Pope said the meeting was "a sign of the importance and urgency of promoting friendship and inter-religious dialogue".

Nuclear ban

This visit coincides with the 350th anniversary of the founding of the "Mission de Siam", marking the first papal mission from Europe in the 17th century.

Though Christianity's first visitors were initially met with scepticism, today Thailand's nearly 400,000 Catholics face little discrimination.

Pope Francis heads to Japan next (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

The Pope also paid a visit to Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha and King Maha Vajiralongkorn, gifting the top royal a colourful mosaic of a papal blessing in Vatican City's Saint Peter's Square.

On Friday the pontiff will host another mass, this one for young people, and meet with religious leaders in the city.

He jets to Japan Saturday, where he will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, both devastated when the US dropped atomic bombs at the end of World War II in 1945.

The pope, who years ago had hoped to be a missionary in Japan, has made strong calls for a ban on nuclear weapons.

Australia pledges US$55 mn to fight human trafficking in SE Asia

Yahoo – AFP, 1 Auguts 2019

Many Rohingya Muslims are leaving Bangladesh's squalid refugee camps, in an
attempt to reach Malaysia and Indonesia for work (AFP Photo/JANUAR)

Australia pledged US$55 million to fight human trafficking in Southeast Asia on Thursday, vowing to tackle "modern slavery" ensnaring vulnerable populations across the region, from low-paid workers to underage brides and Rohingya refugees.

The funding is part of a 10-year scheme that includes training for police and judges to probe criminal networks, Australia's foreign affairs minister Marise Payne said at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Bangkok.

"The initiative will also support joint international investigations to help rescue victims and ensure traffickers are charged," she said.

Rising demand for cheap labour, especially in the fishing and construction industries, has spurred trafficking networks across Southeast Asia where porous borders allow for the easy movement of people.

China's thirst for brides from the Mekong region has also fuelled an illicit trade of mostly young women, thanks to Beijing's decades-long one-child policy and preference for boys.

"There are many deep-rooted factors that enable transnational crime, from corruption through to the unequal status of children and other vulnerable groups," Payne added.

The persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's restive Rakhine state is also prompting new and dangerous networks to form.

Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne pledged $80 million to combat human

trafficking in Southeast Asia (AFP Photo/Romeo GACAD)

Some 740,000 of the stateless Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh, following a brutal military crackdown in 2017 -- but many are leaving the squalid refugee camps in an attempt to reach Malaysia and Indonesia for work, where they are vulnerable to exploitation.

The sophisticated and lucrative trafficking trade in Southeast Asia was exposed in 2015 when Thailand tried to shut down a million-dollar people smuggling route for Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.

The route came to light after the discovery of the migrants' mass graves in southern Thailand.

Payne highlighted the Rohingya's plight on Thursday.

"We are also concerned by the situation in Rakhine State. We're committed to working with Myanmar, with Bangladesh, with ASEAN, and other partners towards a long term and durable solution," she said.

John Quinley from Fortify Rights, which documents trafficking cases in the region, called on ASEAN countries to boost cooperation and punish perpetrators.

"Human trafficking is a transnational crime that needs a transnational solution," he said.

In 2016, there were an estimated 25 million people trapped in modern slavery across Asia-Pacific, according to the Global Slavery Index.

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Asian countries turning back wealthy world's waste

Indian Muslim 'instant divorce' ban hailed but faces court challenge

Yahoo – AFP, Jalees ANDRABI, July 31, 2019

The banning of triple talaq, or 'instant divorce', led to celebrations across
India by some Muslim women's groups (AFP Photo/Sajjad HUSSAIN)

New Delhi (AFP) - The Indian government and women's groups hailed "historic" legislation Wednesday that criminalised "instant divorce" for Muslims, but an influential Islamic group said it would launch a legal challenge.

India's upper house passed a bill Tuesday banning the centuries-old practice that allowed men to separate from their wives by saying "talaq" -- or divorce -- three times.

Husbands who use it now can be jailed for up to three years or be fined.

Some Muslim women's groups celebrated at events across India, which has followed Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in regulating "triple talaq".

Zakia Soman, a social activist who launched a campaign against the practice nearly a decade ago, said the legislation would serve as a deterrent against the unjust treatment of women, some of whom were divorced with a WhatsApp message or by phone.

"This law is the result of decades of injustice meted out to Muslim women and the unsympathetic attitude of the political class and clergy," Soman told AFP.

The government called the parliament vote "historic".

"An archaic and medieval practice has finally been confined to the dustbin of history," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter late Tuesday.

'Medieval' divorce banned

But other Muslim groups fought the law and even the opposition Congress Party was against it, accusing Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of targeting one minority group.

Zafaryab Jilani of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board vowed Wednesday to challenge the new legislation in court.

He said the action was part of a wider campaign by Modi's Hindu nationalist party to undermine religious freedom.

"We are not surprised by the legislation as it is part of their larger agenda to change the country's constitution and snatch away the rights of minorities," Jilani, secretary of the Muslim group, told AFP.

Jilani said a petition against the law had nearly 50 million signatories across India.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a leading Muslim lawmaker, said the new legislation "should be seen only as one part of many attacks on Muslim identity and citizenship" since Modi came to power in 2014.

India's Supreme Court ruled triple talaq illegal in 2017, following a campaign by Muslim women whose marriages were ended by the practice. But the top court said the government had to pass legislation to ban it.

Law minister Ravi Shanker Prasad quoting media reports told parliament that around 350 cases had been reported since the Supreme Court ruling in 2017.

Pope issues new warning against fake news

Yahoo – AFP, May 18, 2019

Pope Francis is seen through the rain-covered window of his vehicle as he leaves
at the end of his weekly general audience at St Peter's Square at the Vatican on
May 15, 2019. (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday urged journalists to desist from publishing fake news, saying it could cause harm, and instead "take time to understand" issues before reporting on them.

Receiving foreign journalists in the Vatican, the pontiff also urged journalists to remain "humble" saying humility "prevents the rotten flow of disinformation and offers the good bread of truth."

Pope Francis said humility was of great importance as it implies consciousness "that through an article, a tweet, a live broadcast either televised or on radio can do good, but also if one is not attentive and scrupulous, harm."

He also said journalists must be very careful of their choice of words in an era of "hostile language" proliferating everywhere, especially on social media.

"Everyone knows how the search for truth is difficult and demands humility," he said.

He also asked the press to speak of "wars forgotten by society.

"Who still talks of the Rohingyas?" he said. "Who still speaks of the Yazidis? They are forgotten and they continue to suffer."

About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown began in August 2017.

Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the Bangladeshi camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

They frequently spend their life savings to embark on dangerous boat journeys they believe will improve their lives, but many fall prey to international human trafficking gangs.

The Yazidi community once numbered around 500,000 members in the mountainous Sinjar region of northwest Iraq, but it was ravaged by the Islamic State's 2014 sweep into the area.

Jihadists killed Yazidi men, forced boys to join their ranks as fighters and abducted and imprisoned thousands of Yazidi women as sex slaves.

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FAKE NEWS ! – (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Top S. Korea court orders Japanese firm to pay out over forced labour

Yahoo – AFP, 29 November 2018

Kim Sung-joo (in orange), a victim of forced labour by Japan, cheered in
reaction to the court decision

South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered a Japanese heavy industries giant to pay compensation over forced wartime labour -- the latest in a series of decisions to strain ties between the two neighbours.

South Korea and Japan are both democracies and US allies faced with an increasingly assertive neighbour China and the long-running threat of nuclear-armed North Korea.

But their own ties have remained icy for years by bitter disputes over history and territory stemming from Japan's brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, with forced labour and wartime sexual slavery key examples.

According to official Seoul data, around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into forced labour by Japan during the 35-year occupation, not including the women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops.

Among those forced to work at the factories for Japanese firms, six survivors filed a lawsuit against The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2000 seeking compensation.

Seoul's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that the firm should pay each of the plaintiffs unpaid wages or compensation worth about 80 million won ($71,197).

The same court, in a ruling on a similar, separate case on Thursday, also ordered Mitsubishi to pay compensation of 100 million to 150 million won to a group of five people for forced wartime labour at its plants.

Many said they had been tricked by their Japanese teachers at elementary schools into going to Japan to "study" but were instead forced to work at Mitsubishi plants producing aircrafts with no or little pay for years.

Both of the two groups filed lawsuits in Seoul after Japanese courts had dismissed their claims seeking compensation.

Japan says the victims' right to sue had been extinguished by the 1965 treaty which saw Seoul and Tokyo restore diplomatic ties and included a reparation package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans.

But recent court rulings in Seoul -- including Thursday's rulings -- argued that the forced labour for Japanese firms was not included in the controversial treaty.

The Supreme Court late last month ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal to pay compensations worth 100 million won to four people over forced labour during World War II -- a decision that drew anger from Tokyo.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono slammed the latest rulings he described "extremely regrettable and totally unacceptable" and demand that Seoul take "immediate actions to remedy such breach of international law."

"Above all, the decisions completely overthrow the legal foundation of the friendly and cooperative relationship that Japan and... Korea have developed since the normalisation of diplomatic relations in 1965," Kono said in a statement.

Qatar easing of exit visa system comes into force

Yahoo – AFP, David HARDING, Oct 28, 2018

Foreign labourers leave the construction site of the Al-Wakrah stadium in
Doha, Qatar, after finishing work on May 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/
MARWAN NAAMANI)

Doha (AFP) - Long-awaited reform of Qatar's controversial exit visa system, which requires foreign workers to obtain their bosses' permission to leave the country, came into force on Sunday, the government said.

"Law No. 13 of 2018... regulating the entry, exit and residency of expatriates is being implemented starting today," the interior ministry announced on Twitter.

Qatar announced in September it had approved legislation to scrap the visa system -- a lynchpin of the country's "kafala", or sponsorship, system which many liken to modern-day slavery.

Under the new law, all but five percent of a company's workforce -- reportedly those in the most senior positions -- can leave without prior permission from employers.

Those not allowed to leave Qatar "for any reason" can file a complaint to the Expatriate Exit Grievance Committee that will "take a decision within three working days", the ministry said.

Some anxious workers took to government social media websites on Sunday, to ask how they could find out if they were among the five per cent.

Qatar's labour minister, Issa al-Nuaimi, said he was "exceptionally pleased" with the implementation of the new law.

"We are proud that the state of Qatar has become an example and a model for labour reform in the region," he told AFP.

Nuaimi added that Qatar wanted to give workers in the country, the "best standards possible".

Scrapping the exit permit is the biggest announcement made so far since Qatar agreed last November to enter into a three-year agreement with the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) to oversee reform.

The ILO's Houtan Homayounpour, head of the labour agency's project office in Doha, said on Twitter that the reform "will have a direct and positive impact on the lives of migrant workers".

The football World Cup 2022 host has come under intense pressure to reform its labour laws, which have been repeatedly denounced by human rights groups.

Critics have long argued for abolition of the exit visa system.

Research published last year by rights group Migrant-Rights.org found around a quarter of all exit visa requests were denied by the government.

Vani Saraswathi, associate editor and director of projects with Migrant-Rights.org, said the reform was "long overdue and welcome", but added a warning.

"We have to be cautious about celebrating it as a huge development," she said.

"Passport confiscation is still rampant and the law also allows for employers to hold passports with the workers' permission."

She also noted that the law does not cover domestic workers, often seen as the most vulnerable.

Rights groups have argued that without the proper safeguards, relaxation of the visa system could lead to unscrupulous employers holding workers' passports.

A study earlier this year by Qatar University's Social and Economic Survey Research found that 53 per cent of migrant workers said their bosses held their passports.

There are some two million foreign workers in Qatar.

US human trafficking report blacklists Myanmar

Yahoo – AFP, Dave Clark, June 30, 2016

Libya, Somalia and Yemen were judged special cases whose governments are in
too much chaos to be judged over the actions their governments have taken to
combat human trafficking, a US report found (AFP Photo/Mahmud Turkia)

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Thursday blacklisted eight more countries for failing to combat human trafficking, including fledgling democracy Myanmar, but was criticized for taking an easier line on Thailand.

Announcing the release of the State Department's annual human trafficking report, Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the rankings were based on objective criteria, and not political favor.

But activists, while welcoming the designation of Myanmar and Uzbekistan to the worst category of wrongdoer, complained that US allies Thailand and Malaysia got off relatively lightly.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, pictured

 here on April 13, 2016, in Washington, DC,

 insisted the report's rankings were based

 on objective criteria, and not political favor

 (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

"There are some tough calls. In the end, they come down to an element of discretion, but not much, because we have a fixed set of rules that Congress had created, and we follow those rules," Kerry said.

"The conclusions are based on facts and are based on a lot of analysis over the year," he said.

Djibouti, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Suriname and Turkmenistan were also added to the now 26-strong blacklist of governments the State Department believes are not fighting people smuggling or slavery.

Kuwait and Thailand found themselves promoted from this "Tier 3" list of worst offenders to the "Tier 2 watch list" of countries making some kind of effort to combat the trade in persons but still under scrutiny.

Libya, Somalia and Yemen were judged special cases whose governments are in too much chaos to be judged.

Last year, the State Department was criticized for not including Myanmar on its Tier 3 list, amid allegations that Washington was turning a blind eye to slavery while encouraging a slow transition to democracy.

Myanmar held contested general elections last year won by the party of veteran rights activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who now steers the country's first civilian government.

Persecuted minority

Suu Kyi had spent a decade fighting corrupt military rule, and Washington has been keen to support her once pariah country on the slow road to democratic reform.

But much remains to be done, and the government has been accused of backsliding, particularly as regards the fate of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.

This year's report on Myanmar dubs it "a source country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking, both in Burma and abroad."

Myanmar's democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently visiting 

Thailand, has come under fire for failing to speak up for the Rohingya (AFP Photo/

Lillian Suwanrumpha)

People from across Myanmar are subject to abuse, but the report says "Rohingya individuals are particularly vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking in Rakhine State, including forced labor perpetrated by government authorities."

Myanmar has been on the "Tier 2 watch list" for four years -- the maximum period it can be allowed under US law to improve its practices or be relegated to the third tier -- which is what has now happened.

Washington had also been accused of taking too lenient an approach to Uzbekistan, where the government makes no attempt to hide the fact that it press-gangs civil servants into forced labor to harvest cotton.

This year report notes that "government-compelled forced labor of adults remains endemic during the annual cotton harvest" and concludes that the Uzbek government is not making any significant attempt to halt trafficking.

Human rights watchdogs welcomed the demotion of Myanmar and Uzbekistan, which they felt had been unfairly protected from scrutiny for political reasons in last year's report, but expressed regret that Thailand and Malaysia were not also being held to account.

Mass grave

"We're encouraged by the State Department's decision to downgrade Burma -- that was a country that we were paying pretty close attention to," said Kristen Abrams, acting director of anti-trafficking umbrella group ATEST.

"We're also equally encouraged by the right of last year's wrong on Uzbekistan, a country that has state orchestrated forced labor," she said.

But watchdogs remain concerned that Washington is going easy on its allies in Southeast Asia, where the fishing industry in particular is regularly accused of using forced labor in inhumane conditions at sea.

Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (C-R) meets with Myanmar Foreign 

Minister and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at the government house in 

Bangkok, Thailand, June 24, 2016. Reuters/Jorge Silva

"Starting with Thailand, we have seen some willingness to reform some of their laws, but it's not made any significant impact on the ground," Abrams said.

"With Malaysia, we know that they were moved up last year for political reasons. It was unjustified then and it remains unjustified today," she said, citing a failure to investigate mass graves.

The report notes that: "Discoveries of migrant camps and mass graves along the border with Thailand in 2015 generated reports some officials were complicit in facilitating migrant smuggling, which may have included trafficking crimes."

But it concludes that Malaysia is "making significant efforts" to meet minimum standards to fight the crime.

Thai crackdown on rogue fishing as fears grow over EU ban

Yahoo – AFP, Preeti Jha, 1 July 2015

Migrant workers sort fish in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of Bangkok (AFP

Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

Mahachai (Thailand) (AFP) - A belated Thai clampdown on illegal fishing is forcing unlicensed vessels ashore, threatening to paralyse a key industry as the kingdom desperately tries to avoid a European Union ban on exports worth $1 billion a year.

Barrels of fish packed in ice are usually rolled off boats at a bustling port in Samut Sakhon, a coastal province near Bangkok, by Myanmar and Cambodia migrant workers who prop up the world's third largest seafood producer.

A migrant worker sits on a fishing boat

 in a port in Mahachai on the outskirts of

Bangkok (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

But many will sit idle from Wednesday, say their Thai employers, who have failed to obtain necessary fishing permits under a raft of new government rules aimed at cleaning up the shadowy industry.

Next to buckets of red snapper destined to become fish balls for the local market and fishmeal to rear shrimp marked for Europe, a Thai vessel owner says there are "too many rules and too little time".

"We will have to keep paying bills with no income," said the worried 59-year-old, who withheld his name, as he prepares to cease operations until he can meet the conditions for a new permit.

The Wednesday deadline to register boats with authorities and acquire permits under revised standards, including installing equipment such as tracking devices, comes after the European Union threatened to ban fish imports from the kingdom unless it combats illegal fishing.

In April Brussels issued Thailand with a "yellow card" for inadequate fisheries monitoring, controls and punishment, warning that a "red card" and eventual import ban would follow if it failed to improve within six months.

The spectre of losing $1 billion in European sales is a shortfall the ruling military can ill-afford in an already sluggish economy.

Thailand saw only 0.3 percent growth in the first quarter and exports have been slowing in part, says the World Bank, due to an erosion in competitiveness.

Aphisit Techanitisawad, president of The Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, estimates around 3,000 fishing vessels nationwide will forsake the seas from Wednesday.

A worker checks canned fish at the 

Anusorn Group factory in Tasai, on the

 outskirts of Bangkok (AFP Photo/

Nicolas Asfouri)

"About 80 percent of all the fishermen, they're coming back to shore" to seek permits, he told AFP at his fisheries factory in Samut Sakhon.

Thailand's image battered

A recent shortage in fresh fish has already seen his workers stop processing crab sticks for French export, instead focussing on canning sardines and mackerel from frozen supplies for the Myanmar and Cambodian markets.

A labour ministry spokeswoman said around 80,000 migrants were working in Thai fisheries since the deadline for compulsory migrant registrations closed Tuesday.

Aphisit thinks the government could have imposed a more lenient timeframe for changes.

But premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha has remained adamant the industry has been left unchecked for too long.

"Don't put any more pressure on government," he said when asked about rising anger within the fishing industry.

"If we don't pass these measures a 200 billion baht ($6 billion) industry could be wiped out so everybody should cooperate," he said.

Thailand's image has been battered in recent years by a series of fishing abuse allegations from prominent rights groups of ships using slave and child labour as well as trafficking victims.

Migrant workers at work in a port in 

Mahachai, on the outskirts of Bangkok

(AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

And last year the US downgraded the kingdom to its lowest ranking on human trafficking, a designation that can trigger sanctions.

Bangkok is desperate to improve its standing, while sanctions have not yet been imposed, laying out new measures including a ban on fishing workers under 18 in the months since. The latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report is due for imminent publication.

Observers say that while the latest threat of an EU ban has triggered a renewed sense of urgency in authorities, rushed actions will fail to combat illegal fishing in the long-term.

Improving "monitoring, control and surveillance" will help to tackle longstanding problems of pirate fishing, slavery and trafficking in Thailand's fisheries industry, said Daniel Murphy, a Bangkok-based campaigner for the Environmental Justice Foundation.

But by rapidly regulating the neglected sector the government "risks regularising more vessels than Thailand's exhausted waters can support as well a significant number of vessels which have spent years openly flouting fishing laws", he said.

In this handout photograph released by Indonesia’s Ministry of Fishery on

 April 8, 2015, hundreds of rescued foreign fishermen mostly from Myanmar and

Thailand are gathered during an operation at the private Indonesian fishing firm

 Pusaka Benjina Resources located in remote Benjina island of Maluku

province. (AFP Photo/Ugeng Nugroho/Ministry of Fishery)

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A fisherman formerly held in slave-like conditions by a Thai-owned fishing firm in

Benjina, Maluku, shows evidence of abuse. (Antara Foto/Humas Kementerian

Kelautan)