To combat human trafficking, Microsoft Thailand is working with Phuket Vice Governor Teera Anantaseriwidhya to coordinate a project aimed at educating 1,200 students to identify and share human trafficking information with authorities in the region.
Microsoft is working with Anantaseriwidhya, the project chair, along with 1,200 students across all seven Prince of Songkla University campuses, including Phuket, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Payao, Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. Microsoft is giving 1,200 students in the unnamed project the computer and IT skills necessary to identify and share information to fight human trafficking.
According to Anantaseriwidhya, Microsoft is providing these students with exactly what the region needs:
“I am quite concerned about youth in isolated rural areas as they are vulnerable and at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. These kinds of projects are very essential to alleviate the situation. Providing computer and IT knowledge to students is a step in the right direction. When students learn these skills, they can broaden their knowledge and have a lot more information at their fingertips – not only about human trafficking, but other areas as well.”
Hopefully, Microsoft can these students find a better way to combat the human trafficking problem in Thailand. According to the US Department of State, Thailand is on the “Tier 2 Watchlist,” which means “Thailand is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”
