When was the center established and for what purpose?

In the past, Thailand is branded as a country of human trafficking, and labor-and-sex exploitation. To eliminate human trafficking in Thailand, the government set up a committee to specifically deal with the human trafficking problem since 1998. In 2014, The State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report ranked Thailand as Tier 3. In response to the TIP report, Thailand announced the prevention and suppression of human trafficking as the national agenda. Later in 2018, Thailand is upgraded to Tier 2. The Thai government, then, set a goal to be upgraded to Tier 1 by improving the human trafficking situation in Thailand.

Royal Thai Police (RTP) recognizes the importance of such a topic. Hence, on 1st July 2005, RTP established the Child and Women Protection Division which was, a specialized unit, responsible for protecting children, juveniles, women, and laborers from human rights violations both at a national level and international level. Later in 2008, the division is upgraded to Child, Juvenile, and Women Protection Center. To expand the scope of work, in 2010, it was renamed the “Child Woman Protection and Anti-human Trafficking Center.”

During 2014 – 2020, Thailand was pressured by the European Union and other countries due to the claim that Thai fishery products are derived from human rights violations, labor
exploitations, and destructive fishing. As a result, the Thai businesses exporting fishery products were badly affected. Royal Thai Police, in response to the government’s policy to tackle the aforementioned problems, broaden the role of the center to cover the fishery industry issue and change its name to “Child Woman Protection, Anti-human Trafficking, and Fishery Industry Center.”