Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 2: Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee

There shall be an Anti-Trafficking in Persons Committee to be called “ATP Committee” in brief, consisting of the Prime Minister as chairman, the Deputy Prime Minister, who acts as Chairman of the CMP Committee, as vice chairman, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, the Minister of Social Development and Human Security, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Labour, and four qualified persons appointed by the Prime Minister from experts who have had no less than seven years demonstrable professional experiences in the fields of prevention, suppression, rehabilitation and international cooperation on the issues of trafficking in persons, one from each field, provided that not less than one half appointed from the private sector, as members, and the Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security shall be the secretary and the Director-General of the Department of Social Development and Welfare and the Director-General of the Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups shall be the assistant secretaries.

No less than one half of the qualified members in paragraph one must be female.

The Committee shall have powers and duties as follows:

1. to make recommendations to the Cabinet concerning the policy on prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
2. to make recommendations to the Cabinet on the revision of laws, rules, regulations or the restructuring of any governmental agency responsible for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in person to enable a more effective implementation of this Act;
3. to lay down strategies and measures for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in person;
4. to prescribe guidelines and monitor the implementation of international obligations, including cooperating and coordinating with foreign bodies in relation to the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
5. to direct and supervise the arrangements of study or research projects and the development of an integrated data base system for the benefit of prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
6. to issue regulations relating to the registration of a nongovernmental organization with a view to preventing and suppressing of trafficking in person, and to prescribe rules for assistance such organization in carrying out its activities;
7. to lay down rules, with the consent of the Ministry of Finance, concerning the receipt, payment, keeping, fund raising and the management of Fund;
8. to lay down rules concerning the report on financial status and the administration of the Fund for the purpose of implementing this Act;
9. to give instruction and supervise the performance of duties of the CMP Committee.
10. to perform any other acts as entrusted by the Cabinet.

A qualified member shall hold office for a term of four years.

Vacating member may be re-appointed but shall not hold office in excess of two consecutive terms.

Apart from the vacation of office upon the expiration of the term, a qualified member shall vacate office upon:

1. death;
2. resignation;
3. being dismissed by the Prime Minister on account of the deficiency, dishonesty or misbehavior;
4. being declared bankrupt;
5. being declared an incompetent or quasi-incompetent person;
6. being imprisoned by a final judgment, except for a negligent or petty offence;
7. absenting from the meetings for three consecutive occasions without reasonable cause.

In case where a qualified member vacates office prior to the expiration of his term of office, the Prime Minister shall appoint another person of the same qualification to fill the vacancy; except when such remaining period of the term is less than ninety days, in which case a new appointment may not be required. The appointed member shall hold office for the remaining period of the term of office of the member replaced.

In case where a qualified member vacates office at the expiration of the term of office and a new member has not been appointed, such member shall continue in office until a new member has been appointed to assume office.

For a meeting of the Committee, the presence of not less than one-half of the total number of members is required to constitute a quorum.

In case where the chairman of the Committee is not present or is unable to perform the duty, then the vice-chairman of the Committee shall preside over the meeting. If the vice-chairman is also not present or is unable to perform the duty, the members present shall elect one among them to act as chairman of the meeting.

The decision of a meeting shall be made by majority of votes. Each member shall have one vote. In the case of a tie, the chairman of the meeting shall have an additional vote as a casting vote. The Committee shall hold a meeting at least three times a year.

There shall be a Coordinating and Monitoring of Anti-Trafficking in Persons Performance Committee to be called “CMP Committee” in brief, consisting of the Deputy Prime Minister, being assigned by the Prime Minister, as chairman, the Minister of Social Development and Human Security, as vice chairman, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports, the Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security, the Permanent Secretary for Interior, the Permanent Secretary for Justice, the Permanent Secretary for Labour, the Permanent Secretary for Education, the Permanent Secretary for Public Health, the Attorney General, the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, the Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration, the Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation, the Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Board, the SecretaryGeneral of the National Human Rights Commission, the SecretaryGeneral of the National Security Council, the Governor of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and eight qualified persons appointed by the Minister from experts who have had no less than seven years professional experiences in the fields of prevention, suppression, rehabilitation and international cooperation on the issues of trafficking in persons, two from each field, provided that not less than one half appointed from the private sector, as members, and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security shall be a member and the secretary. The CMP Committee shall have power to appoint a government official or anyone from the private sector to serve as assistant secretary of the Committee.

The qualified members in paragraph one must be female not less than one half.

The CMP Committee shall have powers and duties as follows:

1. to prepare and monitor the performance according to the implementation and coordination plans of the agencies concerned, whether they be at the central, regional or local level, or in the community and civil society, to ensure the consistency with the policies, strategies and measures on the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
2. to prepare and monitor the implementation of plans and guidelines regarding the capacity building for personnel responsible for prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
3. to formulate and monitor campaigns to inform and educate the public in relation to the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
4. to monitor, evaluate and report to the Committee the performance according to the policies, strategies, measures, together with the performance under this Act;
5. to follow up, and report to the Committee the performance under the international obligations, cooperation and coordination with the foreign bodies on the issues of the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons;
6. to lay down rules and approve the payment and disposal of property of the Fund under Section 44(4);
7. to prepare and monitor the implementation plans under this Act with a view to achieve the highest efficiency of law enforcement and to be in line with the law on anti-money laundering, the law on the national counter corruption and any other related laws, including international obligations.
8. to perform any other acts as entrusted by the Committee.

Section 17, Section 18, Section 19, Section 20, and Section 21 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the assumption of office, vacation of office, and meetings of the CMP Committee.

The CMP Committee shall hold a meeting at least six times a year.

The Committee and the CMP Committee may appoint a sub-committee or a working group to consider, give advice and execute any matter entrusted by the Committee and the CMP Committee.

The provision of Section 21 paragraph one, two and three shall apply mutatis mutandis to the meetings of any sub-committee or working group.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security shall be the secretariat of the Committee and the CMP Committee and shall have powers and duties as follows:

1. to perform administrative tasks of the Committee and the CMP Committee;
2. to be a focal agency for coordinating and co-operating with other government agencies, and public and private organizations concerned, both within and outside the country, in connection with the execution of this Act;
3. to develop system of prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons, including to effectively provide services and safety protection to the trafficked person;
4. to compile, study and analyze data for the benefit of prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and to conduct a research for the benefit of the execution of this Act;
5. to develop information technology database system for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and to establish the links thereof;
6. to implement the decisions of the Committee and the CMP Committee or perform any other acts as entrusted by the Committee and the CMP Committee.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary for Social Development and Human Security shall be responsible for preparing the due appropriations of the annual budget and personnel for carrying out the duties prescribed in paragraph one.