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5.2 Key Partners
from Countering Emerging Threats and Challenges of Transnational Organized Crime - Thailand's Perspective
5.2
Key Partners
Interviewees were asked whether they were aware of any Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or cooperation mechanisms in place that their organization has with other countries and/or regional and international organizations to combat TOC. The overwhelming majority of interviewees (91%) answered in the affirmative and were usually able to provide details about the partners and type of cooperation in place. The discussion about concrete examples of international cooperation to combat TOC generated two main findings.
Firstly, although almost half of interviewees310 mentioned the existence of MoUs or similar formal cooperation agreements311 and recalled that formal meetings are organized frequently enough (particularly in the ASEAN context), informal cooperation based on personal contacts with foreign officers and trust still prevails. Formal cooperation has proved to be time-consuming since officials must go through a long chain of authority to get approval especially for information exchange; this generates significant delays in investigation and prosecution. Interviewees explained that informal channels were much more efficient. An example is the use of mobile chat applications in order to communicate with foreign partners.
Secondly, the large majority of professionals interviewed indicated that bilateral cooperation with competent authorities from other countries was more practical and effective than multilateral cooperation because it was faster, less expensive and an overall simpler arrangement. Numerous examples of successful international cooperation against TOC were described by interviewees.
The interviewees indicated the following: at the headquarters level, the strongest cooperative relations are usually those with non-ASEAN member states and entities. Australia, the United States, INTERPOL and the UNODC are key partners in Thailand’s fight against TOC and the primary technical assistance providers for investigative training, funds and equipment. According to the interviewees, the longest established and most fruitful relationships are those in place with the Australian Federal Police (and more recently with the Australian Border Force) as well as with American law enforcement authorities such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Homeland Security investigations. Thai law enforcement officers often engage also with their Japanese, Chinese and Russian counterparts. According to Bangkokbased personnel, Myanmar is a good example of active partnership with an ASEAN country, especially in combating trafficking in persons. Relevant Thai stakeholders acknowledged the value of cooperation with INTERPOL and the UNODC. Local embassies, through their foreign law enforcement attachés, play a very active role in building a cooperative relationship in criminal matters with the relevant Thai agencies, covering both joint police operations and various forms of technical assistance.
310 27 out of the 60 interviewees (45%) indicated their awareness of the existence of MOUs or similar formal agreements. . 311 E.g. extradition treaties and regional and international treaties that include provisions on cooperation, such as the ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and UNTOC.
A quite different scenario was found in border areas, where the main (and often exclusive) counterparts are the corresponding border managers of the neighbouring country, with Myanmar, Malaysia and Cambodia representing increasingly cooperative partners. Cooperation with neighbouring countries is often facilitated by funds and technical support provided by the UNODC or Australia. The Border Liaison Offices (BLO) set up by the UNODC at the Thai-Myanmar, Thai-Laotian and Thai-Cambodian borders were often mentioned as an effective coordinated border control mechanism.
Despite the generalized preference for bilateral cooperation, interviewees discussed twelve interesting examples of successful multilateral initiatives involving multiple countries regionally and globally.312 Only seven stakeholders recalled cooperation in the ASEAN framework (in particular the Senior Official (Ministers) Meeting on Transnational Crime), suggesting that the proliferation of ASEAN meetings and the increasingly active ASEAN policymaking are not perceived as a primary instrument of cooperation by most practitioners. Nevertheless, there has been an increase in the number of multilateral initiatives within the Greater Mekong Subregion.
The following box illustrates Thailand’s most promising practices mentioned by practitioners:
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations
Bilateral cooperation Information
Border Liaison Office (BLO)
Thailand-Myanmar, Thailand-Cambonia, Thailand-Laos, UNODC A BLO is a centralized clearing house for information received from the vicinity of border areas and a point where joint actions can be taken and coordinated.313 Since 1996, 70 BLO units have been established at key border crossings in the ASEAN region, of which 18 are in Thailand. The UNODC-sponsored BLO has strengthened coordination among front-line border agencies and cross-border cooperation with the relevant authorities from neighbouring countries in the response to TOC.
312 18 out of 60 interviewees identified examples of multilateral cooperation, of which six focused on multilateral cooperation at the sub-regional level within the Greater Mekong Subregion (comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Yunnan Province in China), ten addressed multilateral cooperation at the regional level (the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific region), and three referred to global multilateralism. 313 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Supporting Regional Integration with Effective Border Management: Border Liaison Offices. UNODC Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations
Bilateral cooperation Information
Thai and Burmese Immigration Departments Immigration authorities in three key border checkpoints established the Thailand-Myanmar Anti-Trafficking in Persons Task Force. It involves local authorities and it is described by the personnel involved as a very effective mechanism to track and suppress illicit flows, as well as to provide assistance to the victims. At the HQ level, the Thai Department of Special Investigation and the Myanmar Police Force signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation against trafficking in persons in 2011 which has been effectively implemented.
Royal Thai Police and Australian Federal Police
The upcoming establishment of the first AustraliaThailand joint task force against TOC is a significant step forward in Thai-Australian cooperation in criminal matters. The Australian government is a key partner in criminal investigations and a primary technical assistance provider for Thai law enforcement agencies. It is also a driver of regional cooperation against trafficking in persons through the Australia-Asia Programme to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Bali Process.
Thailand-INTERPOL operational cooperation
Thailand and INTERPOL According to Thai law enforcement officers, INTERPOL is a key partner in criminal information exchange. Thanks to the instalment of the I24/7314 system in Thailand and the linkage of the Royal Thai Police criminal database to INTERPOL’s red alert list, Thailand now ranks first in Asia and third worldwide for the number of arrests of individuals subject to INTERPOL’s red notices (18 cases solved in 2015).
314 INTERPOL Official Website: Data exchange. Retrieved from http://www.INTERPOL.int/INTERPOL-expertise/Data-exchange/I-24-7
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations
Bilateral cooperation Information
United Statessponsored The ILEA provides a wide range of investigative training with an outlook on supporting criminal justice institution building and capacity in Asia, as well as strengthening cooperation among law enforcement agencies in Asia. Between 1999 and February 2015, 16,835 criminal justice officers from 14 Southeast and East Asian countries attended training at ILEA in Bangkok.315 Besides promoting ILEA, American specialized agencies provide Thai authorities with training and technical assistance, including language and investigative training, forensics and cyberforensics, enhancement of CCTV images etc.
Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the UNODC (secretariat) Since 1993, this memorandum of instrument provides an operational platform to address challenges related to drugs and precursor chemicals production, trafficking and use. It is complemented by a Sub-regional Action Plan covering the following five thematic areas: law enforcement cooperation; international cooperation on legal and judicial matters; drug demand reduction; drugs and HIV; and sustainable alternative development. 316
315 International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok. (2015). Institutional pamphlet, Bangkok. 316 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific. Mekong MOU on Drug Control. UNODC, Bangkok. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/what-we-do/toc/mou.html
Greater Mekong Subregion Border Cooperation against TIP and TOC (GMS BCATIP/ BCATOC)
The Safe Mekong Project
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations Information
Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China The GMS BCATIP/BCATOC is a border patrol cooperation mechanism involving immigration authorities operating in the Golden Triangle. It focuses on patrolling against illicit trafficking along the Mekong river. It has been in place since 2015, with two meetings convened annually and regular informal communications.
Thailand, Laos, China
Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and China. R3A BCATIP/BCATOC replicates the previous cooperation mechanism but with a focus on road patrolling. It was inaugurated in 2015 and an office is being created as a cooperation centre. The personnel that have been involved credit R3A BCATIP/BCATOC with making the investigation process faster and more effective.
This project has a coordination centre in Chiang Mai and is an effective platform for criminal information sharing in order to support drug suppression operations. During 20152016 under the Safe Mekong project, the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board and Narcotic Suppression Bureau have destroyed one major drug smuggling group running 26 networks, leading to the confiscation of drug-related assets by the Anti-Money Laundering Office.317 Since 2011, over 9,100 transnational drug trafficking cases were dealt with and 35 tons of drugs were seized.
317 Laohong, K. (2016, August 3). Major drug gang smashed by Safe Mekong operation. The Bangkok Post. Retrieved from http://www. bangkokpost.com/news/crime/1051921/major-drug-gang-smashed-by-safe-mekong-operation
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations Information
Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT)
Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam The COMMIT initiative, in place since 2004, aims to develop close cooperation against trafficking in persons through practical actions in five main areas: policy and cooperation; legal frameworks, law enforcement and justice; protection, recovery and reintegration; mechanism of implementation; and monitoring and evaluation.318 Flagship activities include the Regional Training Programme to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the focus on engaging the tourism sector.319
ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (WEN)
10 ASEAN member states + external partners WEN is the world’s largest regional intergovernmental law enforcement network for wildlife crimes and it involves police, customs and environment agencies of all ten ASEAN member states.
This initiative focuses on capacity building and enforcement action to respond to wildlife trafficking. It led to three successful law enforcement operations with INTERPOL, namely Cobra 1, Cobra 2 and Cobra 3, jointly planned by participating countries. An ongoing project consists of investigation of ivory trafficking with the use of DNA analysis. In addition, ten Wildlife Checkpoints were established across Thailand and regional meetings and trainings are organized annually. The network links with the CITES offices, INTERPOL, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of Justice and other wildlife law enforcement groups.
318 ECPAT. (2014). ECPAT International Journal, 9, 24-27. 319 ECPAT. (2011). Global Monitoring: Status of Action Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Thailand (2 nd. ed.), 12. Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved from http://resources.ecpat.net/EI/Pdf/A4A_II/A4A_V2_EAP_THAILAND.pdf
Regional Enforcement Network for Chemicals and Waste (REN)
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations Information
25 Asian countries, UNEP and WCO The REN project, launched in 2002, is the only intergovernmental cooperation mechanism addressing hazardous chemical and waste trafficking in the world. It involves the UNEP, the WCO and customs and environmental agencies from 25 countries. Meetings are organized regularly to share information and promising practices. Operational cooperation led to the successful Operation Sky Hole Patching.
Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime
48 members including Asia-Pacific countries, IOM, UNHCR, UNODC The Bali Process (in place since 2002) is a framework for cooperation in information exchange, transfer of capacity and monitoring of policy responses. Several capacity building projects involve Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, the IOM and the UNHCR. Successful initiatives include the Regional Curriculum for Frontline Border Officials (which guides officers in victim identification and protection) and the implementation of Policy Guides on Criminalizing Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons (which contributed to strengthening legislative frameworks in the region).
Immigration Control Experts Team (ICE Team)
The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs)
Initiative
Participating countries and organizations Information
Immigration Department from 11 countries worldwide: Thailand, Australia, Canada, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, France, the Republic of Korea and Austria The ICE Team is aimed at real-time information sharing and training on fake passport detection. Thanks to the support provided by the Australian government, Thai immigration established the Document Verifying Unit at Suvarnabhumi airport and have trained airlines staff. These initiatives proved to be very effective, as reflected in the significant increase in detection, seizures and arrests.
125 countries worldwide The Egmont Group promotes the global exchange of financial intelligence, training and expertise sharing among relevant financial authorities to fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism. Egmont Group FIUs meet bi-annually.
