Opening of Thailand’s Counter Trafficking in Persons
Centre of Excellence
17 May 2024
Today Thai Justice Minister Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong and Australian Ambassador to Thailand Dr Angela Macdonald PSM officially opened Thailand’s Counter Trafficking in Persons Centre of Excellence (CTIP-COE) in Nong Chok District.
“Combating trafficking in persons, a global crime, is beyond the capacity of one nation to resolve independently. Sincerity, solemnity and a harmonious partnership are very important in order to effectively address this issue,” said Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong.
Ambassador Macdonald congratulated the Royal Thai Government for their leadership and commitment to strengthen responses to counter human trafficking.
“Australia is proud to partner with Thailand to support their establishment of the CTIP-COE,” she said.
“It is the first training facility in our region with a dedicated focus on fostering knowledge, experience and skills needed to combat human trafficking and related crimes.”
CTIP-COE is a Royal Thai Government initiative, supported by the Australian Government through the ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking program (ASEAN-ACT).
ASEAN-ACT is a 10-year Australian Government initiative, which builds on over 20 years of partnership between ASEAN and Australia to improve responses to trafficking in persons.
Today 48 participants completed a pilot of the new CTIP-COE curriculum. The courses are designed for a wide range of Thai government officials, police and civil society, who are critical to detecting and responding to suspected incidents of human trafficking, with a focus on victim protection.
Australia and Thailand signed the Centre of Excellence Memorandum of Understanding in November 2022 marking the beginning of the cooperation. The CTIP-COE is established as part of Joint Plan of Action implementation under the Australia-Thailand Strategic Partnership.
Australia and Thailand are committed to deepening cooperation to combat human trafficking and related crimes such as the coercion of people into forced labour.
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