This essay expands on GSN's earlier research by adding a fuller discussion of the nature and extent of organized crime's involvement in controlling and profiting from global trafficking operations. With a better understanding of why people migrate and how they can be deceived, coerced or forced into exploitative work situations, the authors insist trafficking be addressed first and foremost as a human rights violation that demands a comprehensive response. While investigating organized crime syndicates and prosecuting criminals is a key part of this response, it is crucial that governments also address the roots of this phenomenon and prioritize the protection of its victims. Trafficking in People in Thailand by Pasuk Phongpaichit Thailand is a major center for human trafficking. Thai workers and sex-workers are trafficked to Japan, Taiwan, Germany, and elsewhere.
Cheap labor is trafficked into Thailand from Burma and other neighboring countries.
The traffic of Thai women as sex-workers to Japan, in particular, is a system of indenture or slavery. Profits from trafficking arise because governments refuse to acknowledge the reality of labor markets. Trafficked sex-workers are often doubly illegal and hence vulnerable to exploitation. The prostitution sector is becoming more international. After the fall of the Iron Curtain the number of prostitutes from eastern and central Europe in the Netherlands increased rapidly.