Two former labour ministers, who served between 2020 and 2023, and two senior labour officials have been implicated by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) in alleged involvement in human trafficking and illegal demands for kickbacks from up to 12,000 Thai workers who worked picking wild berries in Finland.

A well-informed DSI source said that their officials and public prosecutors conducted a joint investigation, after the DSI received a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the fate of the Thai workers.

The source said that, since the alleged offences occurred in Finland, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the DSI, it had to seek help from the OAG, which eventually sought cooperation from its Finnish counterpart in investigating the case under the anti-human trafficking law. The evidence has subsequently been sent to Thailand.

According to the investigation report, a Thai labour recruitment company and a Finnish job agency had arranged for 12,000 Thai workers to be sent to Finland to pick berries. In addition to the service fees and travel expenses, each worker was charged an addition of 3,000 baht as a kickback for two former labour ministers and two senior labour officials, amounting to a total of 36 million baht.

The case has been sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to consider legal and disciplinary action against those implicated.