Thai PM vows no escape for officials in probe

Thailand's junta leader yesterday said government officials involved in the illicit trade in migrants would not be spared and vowed to "eradicate" the industry, days before the release of an influential US report ranking nations on their anti-trafficking efforts.

The kingdom, a longstanding trafficking hub, has been at pains to show it is cracking down on the illicit trade in migrants since the US relegated Thailand to the lowest tier of countries accused of failing to combat the problem in its State Department report last year.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar have been trafficked or smuggled through Thailand's southern provinces and into Malaysia in recent years.

They have been joined by increasing numbers of Bangladeshi economic migrants, some of whom have in recent weeks recounted horror stories of kidnap and coercion into a transnational trade in humans.

During a speech at Thailand's first ever national anti-trafficking day yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said his "government is determined to eradicate human trafficking".

"There is no place for traffickers in this country regardless of whether they are influential figures or government officials," said Prayut, who leads Thailand's military government.