The Ministry of Labour held a training to promote understanding of the Maritime Labour Act B.E. 2558 among 200 officials from 4 ministries, shipowners and seafarers. The training was expected to result in correct implementation of the law by the officials and increased awareness of duties and rights among shipowners and seafarers , which should help prevent human trafficking, improve the Thai merchant marine and develop the labour protection to meet the international standard.

General Sirichai Distakul, Minister of Labour, said employment and working conditions on ships may involve vulnerable factors because of consecutive working hours and the labour protection law did not effectively cover seafarers. Therefore, the government enacted the Maritime Labour Act B.E. 2558, which entered into force on May 5, 2016, to set standards of working conditions, employment conditions and safety and hygiene of seafarers and social security protection. Under the Act, measure regarding maritime labour certificate issued to Thai-flagged vessels is regulated in order to ensure that all seafarers receive fair treatment. The Act is administered by four ministries, namely the Ministry Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Labour. Officials from the relevant ministries have been appointed to effectively implement and enforce the law. Applying the so-called “Pracharat” (state of the people) mechanism when implementing the law, the officials will work with the public to produce the best outcome for the transport business, the marine labour protection and the development of the Thai merchant marine. In a bid to develop working conditions of seafarers who work in international maritime transport sector to meet the international standard, Thailand also ratified the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 7, 2016. The ratification of the convention should benefit all concerned parties. For instance, seafarers should be provided with protection, good working conditions, up-to-standard safety and hygiene, welfare and other benefits while shipowners will be monitored that they comply with the international standard. It should also help protect Thai-flagged ships from port states’ control measures.

M.L. Puntrik Smiti, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, said on July 14, 2016, the Ministry of Labour held a training to boost understanding of the Maritime Labour Act B.E. 2558 at the Chaophya Park Hotel in Bangkok. The training aimed to raise awareness and make known key contents of the Act among officials from the 4 ministries, shipowners, seafarers and relevant parties. All the parties should, therefore, have correct understanding about the Act. Officials thus apply gained knowledge correctly and shipowners should recognize their duties while seafarers should know their rights. This should help prevent human trafficking for labour exploitation focusing on the prevention of the use of child labour, forced labour and bonded labour on the maritime ship.