ASEAN takes on the traffickers

28 มิถุนายน 2558

Dealing with illegal trafficking of all kinds is one area where membership in a regional organisation like ASEAN can be a big advantage. Channel 3's ASEAN CHECKLIST explores what's happening (in English and Thai)

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ASEAN checklist appears each Wednesday on Channel 3 during the noontime segment of Asia Connect. The presenters are Michael Chick, a man with extensive media experience ranging from reporting to advertising to documentary production and Nillaya Treeworawat, a Thammasat graduate in International Relations who appears regularly on Channel 3's Asia Connect and World Connect. The video has subtitles in Thai, but the Bangkok Post learning channel has the actual English transcript, so it's really a "two-in-one" lesson.

ASEAN takes on the traffickers

ASEAN CHECKLIST

Sawadikhap/kha.

The Thai-Lao-Burmese-Chinese-Economic Quadrangle covers 180,000 sq kilometers in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Connectivity is paramount to making the region work and infrastructure allows safe and convenient passage for humans, livestock and cargo to traverse to and from their destinations.

However, there will always be those who try to beat the system.

Yes, that’s right. Planes, Trains and Automobiles. If you can move it, they can smuggle it.

So are there ways to solve this problem?

One method is to improve the cross-border communications between immigration officials.

And by doing that, they can better identify and prevent trans-national criminality, reduce illegal migration while promoting “Safe Travel & Trade”.

Interview of Pol. Gen.Wuthi Liptapallop : Deputy Commissioner General
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"In the past we used physical paper for administration, but today, we have gone digital, and use social media to better communicate between countries on a daily basis. Previously, each country kept their own records, but today we all share this information."

The officers from each country will exchange information as illegal migrants become more “creative”.

That’s right. Some of the methods are; changing their names, sometimes just spelling their names differently, using fake passports and visas, or sometimes, just using another person’s passport, and border pass.

So all these can be solved with a single solution?

No, but it’s very a good start.

How can it be improved then?

Well, for starters, interpol can play a more active role. Also, those who have been tracking smuggling activities will know that all ASEAN borders are extremely porous, and smugglers typically don’t use these checkpoints to begin with.

I understand now. Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have for today.

See you next week, on ASEAN Checklist.

Sawadikhap/kha.