Thailand human trafficking criticized
Thailand continues to be blacklisted in the U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report for consecutive second time for not combatting modern-day slavery. This comes after the country presses charges against more than 100 people, including an army general, on counts of human trafficking after dozens of bodies were found in a jungle prison camp earlier this year.
Thailand investigated and prosecuted some cases against corrupt officials involved in trafficking, but trafficking-related corruption continued to impede progress. Relevant agencies have intensified their efforts, which led to the crackdowns of trafficking syndicates as well as many arrests and punishments of high-ranking officials complicit in human trafficking.
Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
[The report] does not accurately reflect the significant efforts undertaken by the government.
Bomb blast kills 19
A bomb made from a pipe wrapped in cloth explodes at the Erawan shrine in Chidlom, an upmarket district of the Thai capital, as it was packed with tourists and locals. 19 people are killed and 123 injured. So far the death toll includes ten Thais, one Chinese and one Filipino.
‘Local perpetrators’ responsible
The Thai army says that it is unlikely the attack on Erawan shrine in central Bangkok was launched by an international terrorist group, and suggests that “local perpetrators” are more likely to be responsible for the murder of 20 people. However, authorities say the prime suspect in the bombings is foreign. At least 10 people are suspected of involvement in the attack, and that the attack was planned at least a month in advance.
One dead in car bomb
A large car bomb explodes outside a hotel in Thailand’s insurgency-plagued southern region, killing one and wounding more than 30 people, some of them critically. Police commander:
So far there is one killed and more than 30 injured. The hotel building was considerably damaged