Civil society organizations’ recommendations to enhance Thai fisheries’ competitiveness in global market

The inquiry aforementioned reflects how there is a devil that hauntingly lingers and impairs protection process in our fisheries sector. And it shall hamper Thailand’s image in the international community and global market. This may include the devil of dangerous work due to the lack of protection measure and occupational safety and health among fishers who continue to succumb to work-related injuries. An effort to shore up safety and inspection measures according to the law and clear remediation measures is therefore crucially important. There is also the devil of unequal power and inequality which has given rise to a lack of measures to promote collective bargaining and negotiation between the employer and the employee. A lack of labour protection laws and measures are a big loophole that have led to rampant labour rights violation which has become a much more prominent issue in the global trade forum and the issue widely exists as far as employment in fishery sector is concerned. The devil of laws and policies is a major monster that has been lurking and affecting Thailand’s fisheries sector for almost a decade. This has led to a lack of labour protection laws in fisheries sector that comply with international standards. The existing laws become so redundant and hamper the efficiency of their enforcement. Meanwhile, management of foreign workers in fisheries sector has simply brought about vulnerabilities of the workers regarding their legal status. This has simply increased the fees they have to pay to acquire work permits. A lack of strategic plan for the management of labour shortage and sustainable employment in fisheries sector has made Thailand trapped in such devilish cycle.