Ghost Fleet

Bangkok-based Patima Tungpuchayakul has committed her life to rescuing and returning home men from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and other Southeast Asian nations who have been sold to Thai fishing companies by human traffickers. Once at sea, these captive men go months, even years, without setting foot on land, earning little to no pay, trapped in a modern form of slavery on the boats and forced to endure horrific and often deadly conditions. Patima and her small team of activists risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find these men, fight for their emancipation and seek justice for them. In the face of illness, death threats, corruption, and complacency, Patima’s fearless determination reveals stories of criminal conspiracy at the heart of the global seafood industry, as she calls on her nation and the world to wake up and take action.

"You and I have to work together to tell this story. If this is going to change, it’s going to take all of us."
- Patima Tungpuchayakul, film subject, Ghost Fleet

Filmmaker(s):

Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron

Country of Production:

USA

Year:

2019

89m

Language(s):

Bahasa, Thai with English Subtitles

Genre:

Documentary

Filmmaker Bio(s):

Shannon Service

Director

Shannon Service is an American journalist and filmmaker. She has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Slate. Ghost Fleet (18) is her first documentary feature.

Jeffrey Waldron

Director

Jeffrey Waldron was born in Houston and studied film at USC and the American Film Institute Conservatory. As a cinematographer, his credits include Cement Suitcase (13), We Go On (16), and the TV series Dear White People (17– ). Ghost Fleet (18) is his first feature film.

Distributor:

Vulcan Productions

Film Website:

Ghost Fleet website

”Ghost Fleet takes you right on board Thailand’s rights-abusing fishing fleets as they wander the globe, perpetuating trafficking and misery, and reveals the human wreckage left in their wake.”

- Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch

To learn more on this topic visit HRW.org