Thai police arrest 2 'big figures' trafficking human overseas

Thai police have arrested two men described as "big figures" behind a human trafficking ring that lured people to work on fishing boats in Indonesia and sold them to owners of the vessels, in the latest crackdown on rampant labour abuses in Southeast Asia's fishing industry.
The duo were key figures in human trafficking syndicates in the Samut Sakorn province, the country's biggest fishing hub, Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) told reporters.
Chayupong Charoenporn, 50, was arrested in Chon Buri's Siracha district yesterday morning while 53-year-old Samruay Chatklod was later nabbed at a karaoke bar in Samut Sakhon.
The traffickers used middlemen to find unsuspecting people who were duped and sold to boat owners for about 60,000 rupees per person and made to work on fishing boats in Indonesia.

The laborers were then taken without their consent to fishing boats near Ambon island in Indonesia, said Lt Col Komvich Padhanarath.
"These two illegal brokers are quite big figures," said Paisith Sungkahapong, director of the human trafficking division at the DSI.

Paisith said the duo admitted to human trafficking, but they denied the arbitrary detention charge.
Human trafficking carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or capital punishment in Thailand.
In April, the European Union gave Thailand six months to drastically combat illegal fishing or face a seafood import ban.
An EU ban would result in a serious damage to Thai fishing industry, which earns revenues of USD 5.4 billion annually from seafood exports.