Published: 28/01/2015 at 12:01 PM
Brothels raided, Lao women arrested
A total of 32 Lao women, two of them underage, were arrested in raids on brothels in downtown Udon Thani late Tuesday night.
A total of 32 Lao women, including two underage girls, are taken to a press conference at the Udon Thani provincial hall on Jan 28 following raids on four brothels in this northeastern province on Tuesday night. (Photo by Yuttapong Kumnodnae)
Udon Thani governor Noparat Singsakda on Wednesday announced the arrests at a press conference at the provincial hall.
The raids followed complaints that many Lao women were providng sex services in Muang district, he said.
In the first operation, a combined team of police and local officials went to Soi Kitkhayan on Wattana Road about 10pm on Tuesday and found many young Lao women working as prostitutes at two brothels.
The caretakers and Lao women ran away. Some tried to hide inside the brothels. Thirteen Lao sex workers were arrested at the first brothel and 11 others at the second.
A Thai woman, identified only as ‘’Teep’’, working as a caretaker of the second brothel was also apprehended, police said.
In the second operation, authorities went to Soi Thungsawang 2 in Muang district and arrested eight Lao women at two other brothels in the area.
All 32 Lao women from the four brothels, and the caretaker, were taken to the provincial hall for questioning and legal proceedings. The brothel operators remained at large.
Two of the Lao workers admitted they were 15 and 16 years old respectively, but the remainder all claimed they were aged 18 or older, police said.
Most of the women told police they had not been forced into the flesh trade. They said the brothel operators collected 2,700 baht a month from each of them.
The Udon Thani governor, who led the crackdown operation, said officials would determine the actual ages of all the Lao women. All the women's passports and border pass documents had been seized for examination. Ms Teep, the brother caretaker, was charged with procuring women for prositution
Authorities would further question the Lao women before deporting them, the governor said.
He has also ordered the closure of the four brothels.
A source said anti-human trafficking police had raided brothels at these locations twice before the New Year holiday. During the raids, some Lao sex workers and brothel caretakers were apprehended. Passports seized from those Lao women showed they were aged over 18.
Those caretakers reportedly told police they had paid bribes amounting to 159,000 baht a month per brothel to 22 state agencies, the source said.
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