DSI and Lao counterparts met to develop Transnational Referral Mechanism (TRM) on Investigative Information

                Police Major Yuthana Praedam, Acting Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), assigned Police Captain Piya Raksakul, DSI Deputy Director-General, along with Police Major Siriwish Chantechasitkul, Director of Human Trafficking Bureau, and Ms. Atitaya Thongboon, Director of Foreign Affairs Division, Office of the Permanent Secretary for Justice, to host and participate in a meeting with Police Colonel Kikeo Chanthalangsy, Deputy Director General, Department of Human Trafficking Prevention, Ministry of Public Security, in his capacity as Head of the Law Enforcement Delegation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and representatives from relevant agencies, namely DSI’s Human Trafficking Bureau, and from the Lao PDR side: the Ministry of Public Security, the Lao Women's Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People's Court of Laos, and Office of the Supreme Public Prosecutor. Also present were officials from the ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking Programme (ASEAN-ACT), for a total of over 30 people, at the "Meeting on Development of Transnational Referral Mechanism (TRM) on Investigative Information between Law Enforcement Agencies in Thailand and the Ministry of Public Security Anti-Trafficking Division of Lao PDR", which was supported by the ASEAN-ACT Programme at the Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhumvit.

                 The aforementioned meeting is a follow-up to the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children (ACTIP), which has evolved into a memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic on cooperation to combat trafficking in persons (July 12, 2017). The main objectives of the meeting are to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in exchanging information, experiences, and best practices, as well as protecting victims and witnesses in human trafficking cases. Additionally, it aims to discuss the standard operating procedures (SOPs) with Thai counterparts being the Royal Thai Police and the Department of Special Investigation, and with Lao counterparts being the Ministry of Public Security, which aligns with the policy articulated by Police Colonel Tawee Sodsong, Minister of Justice, that combating trafficking in persons must be based on the 5Ps approach: Policy, Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership. This meeting with the Lao People's Democratic Republic promotes the principle of Partnership to be more effective for the benefit of both countries' future operations as close neighboring countries.