These migrants are forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. They are often fleeing conditions of poverty, or in the case of Burmese migrants, which make up the bulk of migrants in Thailand, from military repression. Conservative estimates have this population numbering in the tens of thousands of victims.6
Trafficking victims in Thailand are found employed in maritime fishing, seafood processing, low-end garment production, and domestic work. Children from neighboring countries are forced to sell flowers, beg, or work in agriculture or domestic service in urban areas. Evidence suggests that the trafficking of men, women, and children into these sectors represent a significant portion of all labor trafficking in Thailand.7
Child prostitution also remains a problem. According to government officials, academics, and NGO representatives, children (both boys and girls), especially among migrant populations, were sometimes forced, coerced, or lured into prostitution.8
Internal Trafficking
Thailand is a country with internal trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation, and labor trafficking. Ethnic minorities and women and girls from the northern Hill Tribes are especially vulnerable due to their lack of citizenship.9 UNESCO officials assert that lack of legal status is the single greatest risk factor for trafficking or other exploitation of highlanders.10 There is also an issue of rural-to-urban trafficking, where ethnic Thais are trafficked from the relatively poor areas of Chiang Rai, Phayao and Nong Khai to urban and tourist areas.11