29 December 2014 – Philippine Minister and Consul General Edgar Badajos and Vice Consul Jay Francis Alcantara recently attended an Anti-Human Trafficking Workshop held from December 11 to 15 in Osaka, Japan. The workshop was organized by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) to improve the skills of Philippine Foreign Service officials assigned at Embassies and Consulates General in the Asia-Pacific region in identifying, and providing timely and appropriate assistance to Filipino victims of human trafficking.

Thailand has been identified by relevant international organizations as a source, transit, and destination country when it comes to the problem of human trafficking. Six hundred seventy four (674) cases of human trafficking were reported in the country in 2013 which resulted in 225 convictions. Although none of the cases involved a Filipino national, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok remains vigilant in monitoring possible cases of human trafficking involving Filipinos.

“Trafficking in persons” is defined under the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (or TIP Protocol) as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

While Thailand signed the TIP Protocol on December 18, 2001, it has yet to ratify the same, unlike the Philippines which has both signed and ratified the Protocol.  Both countries have passed anti-human trafficking legislations that impose severe penalties on convicted human traffickers.

The Embassy is urging the Filipino community in Thailand to help fight human trafficking by reporting suspected cases to the Embassy anytime at +66 2 9926-5954 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. END