US praises Thai military junta's migrant labor policy

BANGKOK, June 26 (TNA) - The United States has praised the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s move to regulate migrant workers, saying it is a good policy to tackle human trafficking-related problems. US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney expressed the appreciation during her special interview with Thai News Agency (TNA) in Bangkok on Thursday. The US top envoy said that Washington's last Friday decision on moving Thailand from Tier 2 to Tier 3 of its human trafficking watch list has nothing to do with a coup staged by the NCPO on May 22, 2014. According to the US ambassador, the US decision is aimed to tell Thailand to beware of human trafficking-related problems, which has nothing to do with any political issue in the country. Earlier, the US top envoy expressed her support for Thailand's efforts to solve human trafficking-related problems during her meeting with Thai Supreme Commander General Tanasak Patimapragorn, who is an NCPO deputy chief, in Bangkok on Wednesday. At the meeting, the NCPO chief expressed disappointment with the US inclusion of Thailand in Tier 3, insisting that Thailand was seriously solving human trafficking-related problems, covering child labor and illegal migrant labor. Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security Vichien Chavalit acknowledged that it is difficult to handle human trafficking, as Thailand shares borderlines with neighboring countries over a distance of thousands of kilometers. Besides, Thailand is a regional transport center, attracts migrant workers with the country's higher wages and needs migrant labor for some jobs undesirable among Thais, including unskilled labor and fishery-related work. (TNA)