No escape for officials in trafficking probe: Thai PM

Thailand's junta leader today said government officials involved in the illicit trade in migrants would not be spared and vowed to "eradicate" the industry, days before the release of an influential US report ranking nations on their anti-trafficking efforts.

The kingdom, a longstanding trafficking hub, has been at pains to show it is cracking down on the illicit trade in migrants since the US relegated Thailand to the lowest tier of countries accused of failing to combat the problem in its State Department report last year.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar have been trafficked or smuggled through Thailand's southern provinces and into Malaysia in recent years.

They have been joined by increasing numbers of Bangladeshi economic migrants, some of whom have in recent weeks recounted horror stories of kidnap and coercion into a transnational trade in humans.

A belated crackdown by Thai authorities in May led to the discovery of dozens of shallow graves at an abandoned people-smuggling camp, sparking an ongoing migrant crisis with smugglers abandoning their human cargo at sea after well-established trafficking routes were disrupted.

During a speech at Thailand's first ever national anti-trafficking day on Friday, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said his "government is determined to eradicate human trafficking".

"There is no place for traffickers in this country regardless of whether they are influential figures or government officials," said Prayut, who leads Thailand's military government.

Earlier this week Thailand arrested a high-ranking Thai army officer on human trafficking charges, the first military figure in the junta-ruled kingdom to be implicated in the grim trade.

Police have issued dozens of arrest warrants in connection with their trafficking investigation, with more than 50 suspects detained so far, including some local officials.

More than 4,500 hungry and exhausted migrants have arrived on Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Bangladeshi and Myanmar soil in recent weeks.

The United Nations has estimated that about 2,500 others are still stranded in the Bay of Bengal or Andaman Sea.

Prayut, a former army chief who seized power in last year's coup before being appointed premier, also raised concerns Friday about the impact of trafficking on Thailand's economy.

Trafficking had caused "a deterioration in overseas confidence in terms of trade, exports, industry and it will have an impact on the economy", he said.

Being designated to the bottom of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report can trigger US sanctions, but this measure has not yet been imposed against Thailand.

The 2014 report, which also pushed Malaysia and Venezuela to the lowest tier, slammed Thailand for its inadequate policing of trafficking, an issue long raised by rights groups who accuse Thai authorities of turning a blind eye to, and even complicity in, the trade.

"Anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts remained insufficient compared with the size of the problem in Thailand, and corruption at all levels hampered the success of these efforts," said the report.

Thailand hit back against the criticism at the time but has since stepped up its anti-trafficking operations, lobbying Washington against its inclusion in the lowest tier.

The next TIP report is expected to be issued later this month.