Thiraphong said the TIP situation for Thailand is "very serious" and a downgrade to Tier-3 could severely damage small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers involved in the seafood industry's supply chain, while big companies could adapt and survive. One-third of TUF's revenues are currently derived from the US market.
"We're still evaluating what we would do, if we are hit [by a TIP downgrade]. What's bad today is that even the US Embassy here is still not satisfied [with Thailand's anti-trafficking efforts]," he said.