Click here for Lao version/ຄລິກບ່ອນນີ້ເພື່ອອ່ານພາສາລາວ
Laos is a facing the most serious human trafficking problem among countries of Greater Mekong sub-region, said Mr. Leik Boonwaat, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to Laos. And, Thailand accounts for about 90% of the human trafficking from this country, with girls aged 12 to 18 making up a majority of the victims.
It was estimated that 35% of the total number of cross-border human trafficking victims in Thailand are young Laotian-girls that end up in prostitution, 32% end up in force labor, and 21% work in fishing boats and factories.
According to Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, there are over 250,000 Lao labors in Thailand, while NGOs in Thailand reported that the total number of illegal workers in Thailand is over 400,000.These workers prefer to pay fee to cross-border brokers who charge about 5,000 Baht per persion, which is four times lower than the cost collected by the legal workforce management companies. But by taking this route, they are likely to face risk of becoming human trafficking victims, according to Labor Administration Council ofThailand.
