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The report exposes the reliance of Thailand’s shrimp industry on migrant workers, many of whom are trafficked and face arduous journeys, and even armed robbery, before enduring abusive conditions in shrimp processing factories. During investigations carried out in October 2012 and March 2013, EJF gathered evidence of perilous human trafficking into Thailand, as well as serious labour and human rights violations in shrimp facilities.

The Hidden Cost: Human Rights Abuses in Thailand’s Shrimp Industry follows EJF’s Sold to the Sea report, published in May this year, which revealed evidence of human trafficking, labour abuse and the routine use of violence, including murder, in the Thai fishing industry.

The report exposes severe human rights abuses associated with human trafficking in Thailand's fishing industry and documents the testimonies of Burmese workers, as young as 16, who were forced onto fishing vessels for many months and subjected to arduous, often violent, working conditions without pay.

The report details testimonies of crew murdered at sea, and on shore, and the shocking figure from a 2009 survey by the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) that found 59% of interviewed migrants trafficked aboard Thai fishing boats reported witnessing the murder of a fellow worker.