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trafficking as follows: Policy, Prosecution, Protection, Prevention, and Partnership, and

subsequently moved up to Tier 2. However, human trafficking remains “ad-hoc” in nature.
Specifically, there are two national policy working groups; 1) the Anti-Human Trafficking

Committee (AHT Committee) and 2) Coordinating and Supervision of Anti-Human Trafficking

Operation Committee (CSATO Committee), as endorsed in the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of
B.E. 2551 (2008), which allows the Thai government to execute litigations and to enforce the

law effectively .

ASEAN cooperation and bilateral cooperation against human-trafficking are also in
place. Thailand has positioned itself as a "hub” of anti-human trafficking cooperation.

Moreover, Thailand has contributed to capacity building for its neighboring countries to tackle

the problems more efficiently according to the “ASEAN Practitioner Guidelines 2018” and the
“Progress Report on Criminal Justice Responses to Trafficking in Persons in the ASEAN Region.”

Indonesia can be an example of best practices demonstrating an effort to adapt the laws and

practices in combatting against human trafficking more seriously and specifically. For this
reason, Indonesia can maintain itself in Tier 2 of the TIP Report for many years. Thailand must

focus on building a sustainable system and integrate the work of all relevant governmental

agencies, especially by considering the establishment of a “specialized unit” to be the
knowledge hub of anti-human trafficking, for instance, “Anti-Human Trafficking Office” (AHTO).

This can start from a compact agency focusing on building capacity. This initiative can help

support Thailand to be more active in collaboration with ASEAN countries, which then shall
help solve the problems with neighbors more comprehensively.

Chapter 3 Irregular Migration and Thailand is “the other side of the coin” of human

trafficking. The main challenge facing Thailand is irregular migration, by which migrants
immigrate by irregular means or routes. This is also mixed migration; some people migrate for

economic reasons and some move to seek a better life. They may become victims of human

trafficking or engaged in people smuggling. Thailand’s national mechanism concentrates on
“prevention regime” rather than “protection regime.” This prevention regime is based on the

Immigration Act, B.E. 2522 (1979), which is inflexible for dealing with the current situations.

The other instrument is the “Strategy for Dealing Illegal Immigrants Systematically,” which
needs to be endorsed by the Regulations of the Prime Minister Office to facilitate the

implementation by related government agencies.

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