But rights groups say abuses have continued despite widely publicised reforms while the US State Department's 2017 Trafficking in Persons report kept Thailand on its Tier 2 Watchlist for a second consecutive year. "The ministry has done optical scanning to 70,000 people who work on fishing boats so that we can track their identity," he said. The program, which captures data from the iris, started in October and is part of an overarching plan to register workers. A report released by Human Rights Watch last month said forced labour and other rights abuses remained "widespread" and that little had been done to rein in worker exploitation. The government has also reduced the number of fishing fleets and created a hotline that resulted in the prosecution of 53 cases.

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 16, 2018 08:16 UTC