Introduction

In early 2023, campaigners in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia lodged a formal complaint with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, the region’s main human rights institution, regarding potentially thousands of victims of trafficking in persons (TIP) for forced criminality in scam compounds, from every single ASEAN country. A 2023 United Nations report also estimates that hundreds of thousands have fallen victim to this growing trend of human trafficking for forced criminality, trapped in scamming compounds across the Asia region and beyond.

According to media reports and previous investigations undertaken by Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), Thailand has been an important hub for this type of crime, acting as a transit, destination and source country due to its geographical proximity to scamming compound hotspots across the region.

Nevertheless, the extent of Thailand and its citizens’ involvement in these crimes, namely Thai authorities’ responses to the issue, remain unclear to the public, as well as to counter-human trafficking organisations. This research aims to address this gap, forming a valuable contribution to the current body of knowledge in order to enhance understanding and develop effective strategies, by identifying best practices, to combat human trafficking for forced criminality in Thailand.

This report provides an overview of trafficking for forced criminality involving Thailand, covering the trafficking routes, modus operandi and trends related to TIP for forced criminality. It also outlines the legal frameworks in Thailand to address forced criminality at the domestic, bilateral and regional levels. Additionally, the report encompasses a breakdown of demographics and characteristics of vulnerable groups targeted by traffickers, including disaggregated data of Thai and non-Thai victims of TIP for forced criminality in Thailand. Finally, the report outlines the challenges and obstacles faced in addressing trafficking for forced criminality, particularly with regard to the actions of Thai law enforcement and government bodies, as well as local nongovernmental organizations working to counter these crimes in the region.

a. An overview of forced criminality in the Thai context As explained to the research team by Thai law enforcement officers and NGO workers on the ground, forced criminality in Thailand saw rapid expansion in 2021 and 2022 following the outbreak of COVID-19. The pandemic pushed many businesses to shut down due to economic difficulties, and people increasingly turned to online platforms for services and job opportunities. Criminals mirrored this shift, using online platforms to deceive potential recruits, whom they would previously meet in person.

“As people increasingly turned to online platforms, so did the perpetrators of deceit. There have been advertisements for illegal job placements online, and people have been seeking work abroad in hopes of higher salaries. These individuals focus on easy jobs with high incomes. For example, in Thailand, if you work at 7-Eleven or drive for Grab, your monthly salary is approximately 10,000 baht. However, these fraudulent advertisements claim a wage of around 25,000 baht per month.” – Thai law enforcement officer

Thai nationals are deceived into joining call centre scams, investment scams and other forms of fraud. These
schemes offered higher salaries of around 25,000 baht, plus commission. For example, a 4% commission
rate could be earned for deceiving a target out of 100,000 baht. In April 2024, Thai authorities estimated that
losses from online fraud in Thailand amounted to 110 million baht per day.

Thai citizens have reportedly ended up in compounds in Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Myanmar and
Dubai working both in scam operations and online gambling, forced to target players in their home
countries. Moreover, Thailand is serving as both a transit and destination country. Non-Thai survivors
assisted by HRC have shared accounts of being relocated by their employers from Myanmar to Cambodia
through Thailand following operations jointly conducted by the Chinese and Myanmar governments to crack
down on scam centres in Myanmar.

Additionally, numerous victims were lured by employment opportunities within Thailand, subsequently falling prey to trafficking routes that pass through Mae Sot, a district near the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy, which holds over 30 scamming compounds,6 with new ones being built regularly. 7

In 2021, the Thai government cooperated with Cambodia to assist Thai nationals working in the country, approximately 1,000-2,000 of whom had sought help. These survivors underwent a screening process conducted by Thai authorities, who ultimately determined approximately 200 of them to be victims of human trafficking. The head of the Department of Special Investigation in Thailand’s Ministry of Justice, speaking to news platform Nikkei Asia, disclosed that as of August 2022, approximately 1,000 Thai individuals were officially identified as victims of trafficking, having been transported and confined in Cambodia, while another admitted the actual number might be as high as 3,000. 8

However, in 2023, the national Thai police estimated that 70% of victims returning to Thailand after being trafficked into compounds to conduct online fraud were charged for their alleged crimes. 9 This high conviction rate potentially demonstrates a lack of proper implementation with regard to the nonpunishment principle and the notion of forced criminality, which states that victims must not be prosecuted for crimes they had no choice but to commit as a result of their human trafficking situation. 10 The lack of proper implementation of the notion of forced criminality, and the related protection to be awarded to victims, has proven to be a common theme in the growing trend of human trafficking for the purpose of online fraud in the Asia region. 11

Thailand also acts as a key transit country for people of a range of nationalities trafficked into compounds across Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. 12 Our team identified victims from 26 different countries across Asia, Africa and other regions who were trafficked into compounds through Thailand (see Figure 4 in section 2). Many foreign victims are lured in by fake advertisements for jobs in Thailand. A broker will arrange their flight to Bangkok, where, upon arrival, the victim will be trafficked overland to neighbouring or nearby countries and ultimately sold to a scamming compound.

The international airport in Bangkok serves as a major travel hub in Southeast Asia, and its function has been exploited by some criminals. Testimonies have revealed that corruption occurring at the airport plays a critical role in facilitating human trafficking. One interviewed victim recounted: “A police officer in full uniform was waiting for us, showed us our pictures to confirm the pickup, and escorted us to the immigration desk. Our documents were stamped without any questions being asked.”

b. Legal framework in Thailand on non-punishment principle

Thailand’s legal and policy framework for addressing human trafficking spans the domestic, bilateral, regional and international levels. The specific issue of forced criminality is provided for slightly differently at each level, if at all. Such provision is mostly underpinned by the principle of non-punishment – that is, the idea that trafficked persons should not be detained, charged, or prosecuted for their illegal entry or residence in transit or destination countries, or for their involvement in criminal activities as long as said involvement is a direct result of their situation as a victim of trafficking. 13

The Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act B.E. 2551 (2008) (”2008 Act”) sets out Thailand’s current anti-trafficking framework domestically and is supplemented by the Human Trafficking Criminal Procedure Act B.E. 2559 (2016). It is a comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation that criminalises trafficking of all human beings, for any purpose, and has been amended in 2015, 2017, and most recently in 2019. Prior to this Act, anti-trafficking efforts in Thailand focused only on women and children. 14

The 2008 Act was drafted based on the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) (”Palermo Protocol”) – though Thailand had not yet ratified it at the time15 – and effectively translates the widely accepted UN definition of trafficking in persons provided in that protocol into various offences of human trafficking. 16

The 2008 Act also closely follows the aims and purposes of the Palermo Protocol by focusing on providing effective protection and assistance to trafficking victims. Notably, the non-punishment principle is absent from the protocol, but remains essential to its object and purpose, namely, to protect and assist trafficking persons with full respect of their human rights. 17 Of most relevance, Section 41 of the 2008 Act provides that, unless the Minister of Justice permits it in writing, victims of trafficking should not be prosecuted, and the inquiry official is indeed ”barred from taking legal proceedings against any victim” on named offences such as immigration violations and prostitution. Online fraud is, however, not expressly mentioned. I

n the validation workshop, a law firm said that the Thai Criminal Code already addresses cases of human trafficking in online fraud. If individuals are indeed victims of human trafficking, the code provides appropriate measures. If they are not considered victims, the law includes mechanisms for either exemption from punishment or reduced penalties. Thailand has several legal mechanisms in place to address these situations.

Besides the 2008 Act, Thailand’s domestic legal framework consists of many laws that work to combat TIP and other subsidiary offences. The most relevant of these for present purposes is the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996), which replaced the Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2503 (1960) and continues to deem prostitution a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment or fine. Notably, Section 6(2) of this Act specifically states that if prostitution is committed “on account of compulsion or under an influence which cannot be resisted or avoided”, as would be the case if the accused was trafficked for the purpose of committing this crime, then that person is not guilty.

Also relevant for present purposes is the necessity defence to criminal liability under Article 67 of the Thailand Criminal Code B.E. 2499 (1956). According to this provision, “any person shall not be punished for committing any offence on account of necessity”, where necessity encompasses situations of “compulsion” or the “influence of a force such that such person cannot avoid or resist”, or where that person acts in order to enable themself or another person to escape imminent danger that could not be avoided by any other means. As such, this can be applicable in human trafficking cases where forced criminality exists. For the defence to be valid, the provision stipulates that only what is reasonably necessary in the circumstances should be done.

Although these domestic provisions do not specifically mention forced criminality18 or the non-punishment principle by name, references to liability exceptions for victims in circumstances that would apply in the forced criminality context (i.e. compulsion, influence that cannot be avoided or resisted, or escaping imminent danger) imply that the principle nonetheless underpins them.

Thailand is also party to a number of bilateral agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with other Southeast Asian countries regarding human trafficking,19 though there is no mention of forced criminality in any of them. There is, however, some mention of the non-punishment principle, albeit in contexts not strictly relevant to forced criminality or, more specifically, online fraud. The applicability of such provisions in this context is therefore less certain.

See, for example:

Trafficked women and children shall be considered victims, not violators or offenders of the immigration law. Therefore,

1. Trafficked women and children shall not be prosecuted for illegal entry to the country; …20 and The Parties shall make all possible efforts towards the safe and effective reintegration of victims of trafficking into their families and communities in order to restore their dignity, freedom and selfesteem. For this purpose, the Parties shall take appropriate measures to fulfil the following objectives:

1. Trafficking victims shall not suffer any further victimisation, humiliation, stigmatisation or traumatisation in the judicial procedure; …21

Both of these examples are taken from the same agreement, though similar examples appear in the other agreements as well. Provisions to protect victims from further victimization are consistently broad across the MOUs where they exist. Insofar as prosecution for a crime they were forced to commit can be considered further victimization of trafficking victims, these provisions might be presentations of the non-punishment principle and thus applicable in the forced criminality context. This is not made clear from a plain reading of the provisions themselves, though, and would depend on such an interpretation being accepted by the relevant authority.

As a member of ASEAN, Thailand’s legal framework also consists of regional anti-trafficking provisions. This includes the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (2012) and ASEAN Declaration against Trafficking in Persons, Particularly Women and Children (2004), which, together, establish the foundation for a regional approach to combating human trafficking in Southeast Asia. Most importantly for the context of forced criminality, Thailand is also a Party to the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2015) (“ACTIP”), which provides:

“Each Party shall, subject to its domestic laws, rules, regulations and policies, and in appropriate cases, consider not holding victims of trafficking in persons criminally or administratively liable, for unlawful acts committed by them, if such acts are directly related to the acts of trafficking.”22

This is a clear presentation of the non-punishment principle, with almost no conditions set for the type of criminal activity or particular “unlawful acts” it applies to. As such, victims of trafficking for the purpose of forced criminality might rely on this provision to protect them from being prosecuted for the crimes they were forced to commit, including online fraud, despite the offence not being specifically named. As explained above, this has been reflected in Thailand’s domestic law too, though in more prescriptive terms. That is, under the domestic law, victims must show an element of “compulsion” or ”necessity” in order to 20 Agreement Between Thailand and Vietnam on Bilateral Cooperation for Eliminating Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and Assisting Victims of Trafficking (2008), Article 6. (Emphasis added). 21 Agreement Between Thailand and Vietnam on Bilateral Cooperation for Eliminating Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and Assisting Victims of Trafficking (2008), Article 17. (Emphasis added). 22 Article 14(7). 7 trigger the non-punishment principle, whereas the ACTIP requires only that the unlawful activity in question be ”directly related” to the trafficking. There is therefore a lower threshold to meet at the regional level.

The ACTIP also states protecting and assisting victims of trafficking, ”with full respect for their human rights” as one of its objectives,23 much like the Palermo Protocol as discussed above. Insofar as implementing the non-punishment principle can be considered necessary to properly respect victims’ human rights, then, this too may be relevant in cases of forced criminality.

In conclusion, the legal framework for human trafficking in Thailand does not explicitly refer to the nonpunishment principle, forced criminality, or online fraud, nor is it properly consistent in its provisions across the domestic, bilateral and regional levels. Nonetheless, the non-punishment principle appears to implicitly underpin each level of Thailand’s frameworks through the wording of the respective provisions, many of which could be broadly construed to encompass situations of forced criminality in scamming compounds. This being so, more can − and should −still be done to specifically address the issue of forced criminality and online fraud and make these protections clearer for victims.

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