On 30 September 2015 the United States Department of Labor announced the report on the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor for the year 2014, which assesses the efforts of 140 countries in eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

This report finds Thailand in 2014 a country with “significant advancement” in tackling child labor issues, the highest category the countries could achieve and an upgrade from the 2013 placement of Thailand at moderate advancement level.  Lower rankings of the report include minimal advancement and no advancement.

The upgrade of Thailand from moderate to “significant advancement” was due to several actions taken by the Thai government, including

(1) the creation of a National Policy Committee to address issues regarding migrant and human trafficking problems, which demonstrates the Thai Government’s efforts to reduce child labor issues

(2)  changes in the legal framework by the Ministry of Labor to raise the minimum age of workers in the agriculture and fishing sectors

(3) significant funding and supporting programs that target preventing and eliminating child labor, including its worst forms

(4) a proactive multi-disciplinary team responsible for child labor law enforcement

(5) the evaluation of the National Plan of Action (NPA) to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor (2009-2014), which will provide input for the second phase of the NPA for 2015-2020.

For this year there are only 13 countries placed in the category of “Significant Advancement”.  After all, the report and its findings reflect the U.S. Department of Labor’s recognition of the serious efforts taken by the Thai government to eliminate the worst forms of child labor as well as the significant progress the country has made thus far.  In addition, it recognizes the improved coordination and partnership between Thai government agencies and other stakeholders in tackling child labor issues.