BANGKOK: Thailand is a source and transit country for criminal syndicates operating cyber scams in Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and the Philippines, often in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2023 said.

The report released on Thursday said syndicates exploit victims in forced labor, forced criminality, and sex trafficking.

"Cyber scam operations use Thailand as a transit country by recruiting workers from numerous countries with false promises of high paying jobs in Thailand, then transport them to neighboring countries where these operations are located and force them to conduct illicit online scams, often through physical violence," it said.

The report said approximately 177,000 Thai children, mostly boys, are involved in child labor, including in agriculture, auto repair and other service trades, construction, manufacturing, and in the hospitality industry, and were at risk of forced labor.

There are reports separatist groups in Southern Thailand recruit and use children for insurgent activities, it said.

In the report stated labor and sex traffickers exploit women, men, LGBTQI+ individuals, and children from Thailand, other Southeast Asian countries, Sri Lanka, Russia, Uzbekistan, and some African countries in Thailand.

"Members of ethnic minorities, highland persons, and stateless persons in Thailand have experienced instances of abuse indicative of trafficking. Children from Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia are victims of sex trafficking in brothels, massage parlors, bars, karaoke lounges, hotels, and private residences.

"Traffickers induce young Thai girls and boys to perform sex acts through videos and photos on the Internet, sometimes by blackmailing victims with explicit images. Children are lured by traffickers into commercial sex through the Internet, chat and dating applications, as well as other social networking platforms.

"Children in orphanages are at risk of trafficking. Children of families that lost employment because of the impacts of the pandemic, including among migrant families, were increasingly at risk of trafficking," it said.

Meanwhile, the TIP Report said vessel owners, brokers, and senior vessel crew subject Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Indonesian men and boys to forced labor on Thai and foreign-owned fishing boats.

"Some boat captains threaten, beat, and drug fishermen to work longer and sell fishermen drugs as a means to generate additional debt. Vessel owners confiscate the identity documents of fishermen without their consent.

Research published in 2019 and 2020 found that between 14 and 18 percent of migrant fishermen were exploited in forced labor in the Thai fishing industry, indicating traffickers exploited thousands of workers on fishing vessels.

-- BERNAMA