Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 1991, Publicación: 78ª reunión CIT (1991)

The Committee notes that no report has been received from the Government. The Committee has however taken note of the discussion which took place in the Conference Committee in June 1990 on the application of the Convention by Thailand.

Article 25 of the Convention. In previous comments the Committee noted allegations brought before the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities that children were bought and sold in Thailand for work in private houses, restaurants, factories and brothels, that shops had specialised in the sale of children and teenagers and child catchers and recruiters were operating in the country, and that, although laws for the protection of children existed, there was a lack of enforcement by the police.

The Government stated in its earlier reports that since 1978 tougher action and measures had been undertaken by the authorities with a view to eliminating any possible exploitation or illegal use of child labour: labour inspections and remedial action had been intensified, vocational training, especially for children from rural areas had been promoted through a child rehabilitation centre and the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques, while government agencies co-operated with private agencies and foundations in setting up a centre to monitor the problem of child labour and, in co-ordination with the Women and Child Division of the Department of Labour and the Police Department, to investigate cases. This action had resulted in several arrests and prosecutions; a factory owner had been sentenced to several years of imprisonment for illegal employment and abuse of child labour. The Government having provided only summary statistics on inspections, on the number of children in establishments covered by the inspections, on permits issued for the employment of children and on the advisory services to employers on legal aspects of child labour, the Committee requested the Government, in view of the serious and repeated allegations brought before the Subcommission and the Government's reference to several arrests and prosecutions, to supply more specific, detailed and complete information on the measures taken to ascertain that the Convention is observed in practice.

The Committee noted the information provided by the Government in its report for the period ending 30 June 1987 and to the Conference Committee in 1987 on labour inspections and action taken by the Department of Labour in co-operation with the Police Department in a certain number of cases of child labour exploitation such as excessive hours of work - in some cases from 6 a.m. to midnight, with very little rest - illegal overtime and night work, no weekly rest, wages under the legal minimum, no protection or welfare benefits as provided by law, physical aggression, etc. The employers concerned had been sentenced or obliged to pay monetary penalties or outstanding wages; the Government had supplied the previously mentioned court decision sentencing an employer to three months' imprisonment.

The Committee further noted the Government's indications concerning various rehabilitation measures and the role of the different aforementioned institutions. The Committee noted in particular that the centre to monitor the problem of child labour was replaced in February 1987 (Order of the Minister of Interior No. 84) by a joint committee of the private and public sector named "Child Labour Protection Committee", whose functions are among others to protect and eliminate the abuse of child labour and to recommend ways and means to resolve problems of child labour within and outside establishments, undertake studies and research on the problem of the use of child labour within and outside the industrial sector. The Committee also took note of the research summary and recommendations of a report drafted by the National Youth Bureau, Office of the Prime Minister, referred to in the ILO "Conditions of Work Digest", Vol. 7, 1/1988. Among its findings the report states that most employers do not have the required permit to employ children, who often work in illegal and unhealthy conditions, and are deprived of protection or welfare benefits. The Committee also noted from the Digest the information reported by the Women and Child Labour Division according to which the majority of child workers are from poor families in rural areas; they are exploited and face many physical and mental problems.

While noting the information provided by the Government on the inspections carried out and action taken against employers for child abuse, it appeared to the Committee from the documents submitted with the Government's report that these measures were somewhat limited in scope and the pecuniary sanctions applied were not commensurate to the physical and moral harm incurred by the children in comparison with the benefits which an employer can expect to gain by using illegal child labour.

The Committee notes the statement by the Government to the Conference Committee in 1990 that the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour was punishable as a penal offence and that penalties were strictly enforced, as shown by the written information provided on two cases of employers sanctioned one by three months imprisonment, the other by a fine. Rates of pecuniary sanctions were determined by a committee composed of the Directors-General of the Departments of Labour, of Public Prosecutions and of the Police. These rates were adjusted according to the seriousness of the offence; in extreme cases imprisonment was imposed. According to the statistics on labour inspection of the Woman and Child Labour Division, there had been 11 prosecutions of employers for exploitation or illegal use of child labour in 1988, two in 1989 and four between October 1989 and May 1990. All of these cases had been prosecuted by officers of the Legal Division of the Department of Labour. Fines of US$4,200 had been imposed on 13 employers, and four cases were still pending. One of the cases (referred to in the Government's written communication) concerning the illegal employment of children had been the subject of a judgement handed down by the criminal courts.

The Government also stated that a series of measures had been taken to prevent the sale and purchase of children, namely: a campaign to arouse public awareness of the relevant provisions of the labour laws and to educate employers about the legislative provisions pertaining to child labour; the promulgation of Announcement No. 12 of the Ministry of the Interior to protect children from being sold and purchased; the creation of a joint working group of officials from two divisions of the Department of Labour (the Labour Protection Division and the Woman and Child Division) to monitor the child labour situation, especially during the period after the harvest. Child labourers who are migrating from any part of the country to urban areas would be inspected by this working group as regards their workplace, their living conditions, their employment, their wages, etc., and if there was any irregularity, the matter would be entrusted to labour inspectors working in such areas for further action. The Government also indicated that the extension, under the new Primary Education Act, of primary education from six to nine years of age, which had been approved by the Cabinet, would come into force in 1991.

The Committee also notes the Government's indication that recent statistics of the Department of Public Welfare showed that the average percentage of children under 15 years of age working in nightclubs and brothels had increased from 3.50 per cent in 1977 to 5.85 per cent in 1989. When these children were found by the police, they were sent to homes where they received medical care, education, training, etc. All those measures were supplemented by preventive and protective measures. In that context, a national campaign to arouse public awareness had been launched, centres for vocational training for women had been established in all parts of the country (such centres could prevent child migration to metropolitan areas), and the Brothel Elimination Act was being revised so as to impose higher penalties on offenders and so as to extend its scope.

The Committee notes with interest these indications. The Committee hopes that the Government will supply detailed information on the application and enforcement of the various measures in relation to the application of the Convention. The Committee recalls in this connection that under Article 25 of the Convention the Government must ensure that penalties imposed by law are really adequate and are strictly enforced.

The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will provide detailed information on measures taken to ascertain that the Convention is applied in practice, including further information on complaints of child abuse, on inspections carried out, prosecutions undertaken and penalties imposed, and copies of court decisions. The Committee requests in particular the Government to supply detailed information on measures taken to ascertain that children are not sold and purchased by unscrupulous job-securing agents and to remove the children from nightspots and brothels and from illegal employment in private houses, hotels, restaurants and factories. Referring in this connection to the Government's indication that the number of working children in nightclubs and brothels had increased and that the Brothel Elimination Act was being revised, the Committee hopes that the Government will provide detailed information on the action taken in this regard and the results achieved.