A beer too many turned out to be an expensive mistake for a fisherman from Myanmar who subsequently found himself spending five years at sea without pay on a Thai fishing vessel.
According to the witness in the case now in court in Bangkok, the man passed out after meeting a job broker in a bar in Kantang, and when he came to was told he owed 2000 baht (approx €50), and would have to work off the debt, reports Thomson Reuters Foundation, the the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.
The case began last week against nine defendants, including the broker and the owners of Boonlarp Fishing Co, claimed by prosecutors to be central to the people trafficking ring.
‘This case is important because before the police could only catch the small fish, but this is the first time they got the big fish,’ said Papop Siamhan, a lawyer for the trafficking victims and project coordinator for the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) rights group.
The Thai government recently amended legislation in an effort to combat human trafficking and slavery, putting in place penalties extending to life imprisonment and even incurring the death penalty in cases in which victims have lost their lives.
According to the Thomsonn Reuters Foundation report, the Bangkok-based Issara Institute anti-trafficking organisation has been a key point of contact for these trafficked fishermen and said reports of abuses on fishing boats operating out of Kantang began as early as 2008. Fishermen from Myanmar on boats run by Boonlarp began calling Issara Institute’s 24-hour hotline to complain of being exploited and physically abused in May 2015. In October last year, Thai authorities from several agencies, working with the Issara Institute, went to sea and rescued victims from Boonlarp boats.
The Kantang case that began last week is the first if many expected to be held over the coming months in Thaland’s southern Trang province, although a request has been lodged for the trial to be shifted to Bangkok due to concerns for the safety of the victims.
‘They have faced abuse by the broker and her husband, so they are scared, Even though they’re under the care of state authorities, if they come to Bangkok, they would feel safer,’ said lawyer Preeda Tongchumnum who works with the Solidarity Center, a US-based worker rights organisation.
The proceedings have been adjourned until 26th of July, when the Supreme Court’s decision on the motion to move the case will be read.
