Authorities set to cooperate with US police on Thais forced into prostitution

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THAI authorities are waiting for a US request for cooperation to further investigate alleged human trafficking of Thai women for prostitution in several American cities following the latest arrest of 20 suspects who are being prosecuted in US federal courts.

The office of Minnesota’s attorney-general said on Thursday that US authorities would prosecute a total of 21 Thai and American suspects, including one who is still at large, for their roles in a human trafficking network luring Thai women to the US to work as prostitutes.

The Thai consulate’s office in Chicago said it was also working with American counterparts to help Thai victims and suspects now in US custody.

Hundreds of women

However, Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharern, the deputy spokesman for Royal Thai Police, said US authorities had not yet contacted Thai officials for cooperation on the human trafficking-for-prostitution case in which hundreds of Thai women were believed to be misled by the suspects to go to the US for legal work but were forced to be prostitutes.

Krissana said the crime took place in the US so Thai authorities could not interfere, but officials were ready to cooperate with US officials.

In the meantime, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry was responsible for helping Thai victims and suspects, he said, adding that national police chief Pol General Chaktip Chaichinda had already instructed police to step up surveillance of domestic prostitution networks that could be involved in the trafficking of Thai women to the US.

The Chicago Sun Times earlier reported online that customers of a Thai prostitution ring in that city had become key players in the nationwide US operation in which the culprits rented out apartments for the women, shuttling them from airports and even entering them into sham marriages with brothel bosses so the woman could work legally.

“This is a unique twist I haven’t really seen before,” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart was quoted as saying.

A federal indictment unsealed last Thursday charged 21 people across the country — including six in the Chicago area — with being involved in sex |trafficking. A related indictment in October charged 17 others.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office worked with the US Homeland Security Investigations agents to shut down brothels employing Thai women in the Chicago area and arrested six people authorities identified as participants.

Source - TheNation

 

#Thailand - Detained TAO chief ‘not involved’ in Pattani bombing, released.

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The chief of a Tambon Organisation Administration (TAO) has been released after investigation showed he had no involvement in the attack at the Big C department store in Pattani province last week, a source said on Sunday.

The identity of the TAO chief in Pattani’s Nong Chik district was never publicly revealed.

He was detained after the attack on May 9, which injured 80 people.

The source said that seven people, including a religious leader – Su-hai-mee Sama-e – and five other local residents had been detained for interrogation for alleged links to the robbery of a pickup and the killing of the vehicle’s owner.

On May 13, five youths were detained in Nong Chik district after they were found near a spot where suspect Su-hai-mee allegedly rigged a stolen pickup with explosives.

Sourse - TheNation

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#Thailand - 9 policemen sacked as Mae Hong Son child-sex investigation widens

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NINE MAE HONG SON police-men have been dismissed from the civil service and put under serious disciplinary investigation after being implicated in the northern province’s underage prostitution scandal.

They could also face legal action for their alleged involvement in the teenage vice ring, deputy national chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said yesterday.

The nine officers include alleged racket operator Pol Senior Sgt Major Yutthachai Thongchat of Nam Piang Din police station, three officers under Kong Koi police station who face charges of gang-raping of a minor, and five policemen for whom summonses were issued for over accusation that they paid to have sex with minors.

Srivara said police investigators were gathering evidence against seven more suspects – including several state officials, a soldier and a local politician – and hoped to make arrests soon.

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He was speaking at Chiang Mai’s Provincial Police Region 5 office where he presided over a meeting to discuss an anti-human trafficking crackdown. 

Srivara said the Mae Hong Son investigation saw local police handle 37 cases – 29 of human trafficking, seven of buying sex services, and one gang rape of minor – while the Anti-Human Traffic Division (AHTD) handled one human trafficking case in which all eight suspects had been arrested, including Yutthachai.

Earlier yesterday, Srivara went to Mae Hong Son to check progress in the investigation. He met some of the four police who showed up in response to summonses yesterday, but a teacher who reportedly moved away from the province failed to show up.

The fifth police officer, a deputy superintendent who is a lieutenant colonel, also did not appear, claiming he was preoccupied with work. But his supervisor said he had not been assigned with any mission. 

Although the officer, who also now faces an investigation for omission of duty, is believed to have fled, investigators issued a second summons for him. If he fails to respond by May 15, an arrest warrant will be obtained. 

Srivara also visited a police flat where the missing officer allegedly took a minor for sex but it was empty.

Also yesterday, a master sergeant under the Internal Security Operations Command, identified by victims as “Uncle Pan”, went to the Mae Hong Son police office to report to Srivara and hand over documents he said proved his innocence, but missed him. However, he caught up later at Mae Hong Son airport.

“Uncle Pan” said he knew the girls but his involvement with them was for intelligence-gathering purposes against the prostitution ring.

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#Thailand - Prostitution bust ‘requires Article 44’

Police escort five suspects linked to the Mae Hong Son |prostitution scandal from Bangkok’s Thung Song Hong Police Station to Ratchadapisek Criminal Court to apply for the first 12-day detention period yesterday morning.

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District chiefs fear offical meddling in probe

THE FEDERATION of Assistant District Chiefs of Thailand filed a petition at Government House yesterday for Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his absolute power under Article 44 of the interim constitution to deal with civil servants involved in the Mae Hong Son underage prostitution scandal.

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The group, led by federation chairman Boonyarit Nipawanit, claimed that the use of normal laws would cause delays and might risk interference by local influential figures. He urged authorities to punish supervisors who were guilty of dereliction of duty or negligence allowing such crimes to take place, as well as officials directly involved in the racket or patronising underage prostitutes. They said that if the case was tackled seriously it could lead to the end of the unofficial tradition of sex services being offered to senior officials. Lawyer Kerdpol Kaewkerd, who represented victims of the prostitution ring and accompanied Boonyarit yesterday, said the government should expedite legal action in the case as there had been attempts to interfere with the work of police investigators by trying to tamper with evidence and witnesses who were not being provided protection. 

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 Kerdpol said that if the investigation was prolonged the victims might lose interest in fighting the case as they would feel that they would not receive justice.

Meanwhile, Phrae deputy governor Wirun Panthewee said he had been at a party to welcome Suebsak Iamwichan last year as he took his position as Mae Hong Son governor, adding the festivities were normal without any suspicious activity. 

Suebsak is being questioned by an Interior Ministry disciplinary panel over his alleged involvement in the case although he maintains that he was innocent. 

Wirun urged the public to not spread rumours about Mae Hong Son people or treat accused officials including Suebsak unfairly unless they are proven guilty. 

Meanwhile, five human-trafficking suspects allegedly involved in the prostitution ring were brought to Bangkok’s Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court yesterday to apply for their first 12-day detention period pending police investigation. 

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 Police opposed their release on bail on the grounds that the case carried a heavy punishment and there was a risk of them tampering with evidence and witnesses.

Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) chief Pol Maj Gen Kornchai Klayklueng told a yesterday press conference that he believed all involved in human trafficking crime in the ring were already identified – as per the teenage girl’s mother’s testimony that the racket had eight teams under suspect Pol Senior Sgt Major Yutthachai Thongchat. 

Kornchai said local police had 36 complaints and arrested three police officers wanted for the charge of gang rape of a minor, while AHTD had one case with eight suspects, all in custody. He affirmed police would check all points including the identity and involvement of a man called Uncle Pan whose Line chat leakage led to the complaint. 

He said the lie detection device use on victims or suspects were to show sincerity and required them to sign consents first. 

To a witness’s claim a man resembled governor took a girl under 18 to have sex on the night of welcoming party last year, he said it was a heresy, not a direct testimony of the girl in question hence the girl should file the complaint to have police probed it.

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Scrutiny of Mae Hong Son suspects 
 Group 1 
The three suspects in custody for whom a court issued arrest warrants on charges including conspiracy to commit human trafficking to benefit from prostitution. They include Pol Senior Sgt-Major Yutthachai Thongchat of Mae Hong Son’s Nam Piang Din Police Station, who was dismissed from the civil service.
Group 2
The five suspects in custody on charges including conspiracy to commit human trafficking to benefit from prostitution. They are one 30-year-old man and four women aged from 22 to 40.
Group 3
Three police officer suspects attached to Kong Koi police station in Mae Hong Son’s Sop Moei district facing charges of gang rape of a minor linked to the prostitution ring. They have also been dismissed from the civil service due to the alleged breach of discipline.
Group 4 
The five police suspects and one public school teacher accused of buying sex services from the prostitution ring. Previous police applications for arrest warrants were turned down twice on the grounds that they were civil servants with known addresses and were not a flight risk. The court suggested that summonses be issued for them instead.
Group 5
Police are trying to locate six men, including two military officers, a public health official and a district highway official, who are accused of buying sexual services from the prostitution ring.
Persons of interest
Mae Hong Song governor Suebsak Iamwichan is being questioned by an Interior Ministry panel over his alleged involvement. 
The mother of one of the victims this week has also filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division against Mae Hong Song police chief Pol Maj-General Preecha imonchaijit, Muang Mae Hong Son precinct superintendent Somkiat Sawngsuk and other officers who served on a disciplinary panel reviewing Yutthachai’s behaviour. 
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Source - TheNation
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#Thailand - Mae Hong Son in the spotlights of child prostitution

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More arrest warrants sought in child prostitution ring in Mae Hong Son

ANTI-HUMAN trafficking police will seek arrest warrants for at least two more persons in connection with the alleged prostitution of minors in Mae Hong Son.

Kornchai Klayklueng, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, declined to reveal the names of the suspects yesterday, saying his force would not spare criminals no matter how influential they were.

The mother of one of the victims has claimed that several government officials, including a police deputy superintendent and Mae Hong Song Governor Suebsak Iamwichan, were customers of the ring.

“Her latest interviews with media include new information, particularly the parts regarding alleged sex buyers. I ordered her interviews transcribed,” Kornchai said.

Three alleged procurers have already been charged with human trafficking. They are Pol Senior Sgt-Major Yutthachai Thongchat, who worked at the Nam Piang Din Police Station in Mae Hong Son until the scandal broke, Piyawan Sukma and Piyathas Parpthiensuwan.

Pol Colonel Montri Baothog, a superintendent at the anti-trafficking unit, said there was clear evidence against these three suspects.

He downplayed concerns that one mother had deliberately exposed the ring to hurt three police with whom she had a conflict.

“We have not yet looked into those rumours. But we have handled the case based on evidence,” he said.

Deputy national police Commissioner-General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said he had already ordered a disciplinary inquiry into the three implicated police.

“There is enough evidence to launch a probe as of now, but not yet to seek arrest warrants,” he said.

 Pol Maj-General Panudej Boonruang, acting deputy Provincial Police Region 5 chief, said an investigation was underway to determine whether this case involved more victims and patrons. The mother, who used to work as a police informant, firmly pointed her finger at Suebsak, saying her daughter was forced into providing sex to this much older man.

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The three alleged victims, now aged 17-19, were dragged into the flesh trade in late 2013 or early 2014.

The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into Suebsak who has denied any wrongdoing. “I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t visit night entertainment venues either,” Suebsak said. A source said Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda had phoned the Mae Hong Son governor and rebuked him over the alleged human trade controversy in the northern border province.

“I have asked the Mae Hong Son governor about this. I told him that as the governor he has to know what’s going on in his province.

“He can’t say he doesn’t know. It is just a small province and the governor has to know everything,” Anupong was quoted as saying.

He was speaking at a weekly meeting of senior Interior Ministry officials, according to the source.

The mother who is seeking justice for the girls lured into prostitution said there were 11 sex-worker procurement rings in Mae Hong Son.

Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, president of the Help Crime Victim Club, dismissed reports that his club had abandoned the mother after accepting Bt15,000 from her.

“It’s not true. We have helped follow up her case all along. Besides, the Bt15,000 that she gave to the club was for travel expenses that the club’s team had incurred for their trip to pursue the case in Mae Hong Son,” he said.

During the trip to Mae Hong Son, the team talked to several local officials and members of local non-governmental organisations while gathering evidence strongly suggesting that Yutthachai was the head of a procurement ring, he said.

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SOURCE - THE NATION

#Bangkok, Wanted woman 'in Turkey'

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A Thai Muslim woman claiming to be the wanted bomb suspect told reporters by phone she is in Turkey, as police track the two Bangkok bombers to Cambodia.

THE hunt for those behind the Erawan Shrine bomThai woman flew out of Phuket in July; bomb materials found in flat she rented, police say; relative claims she will return to deny any role in blasts.


However, police have been unable to clearly pinpoint the motive for Bangkok's worst bomb attack. They have come up with the theory that the culprits may have been human smugglers angered by the government's crackdown on the illegal trade, a source familiar with the ongoing investigation said yesterday.

Previously, possible suspects included political rivals, organised criminal gangs, Islamic militants, southern insurgents and sympathisers of Uighur refugees.

Four arrest warrants have so far been issued in connection with the two blasts - the male shrine bomber seen wearing a yellow shirt and a man in a blue shirt who dropped an explosive device at Sathorn pier. That device exploded the day after the shrine attack but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, police investigators have found footage from closed-circuit TV cameras near Hua Lamphong Railway Station that shows the shrine bomber receiving a backpack similar to one used in the bombing from a man in a white shirt, another police source said.

Min Buri Provincial Court yesterday granted a police request to issue arrest warrants for Phang Nga resident Wanna Suansan, 26, who is also known by the Muslim name Maisaloh, and a man of an unspecified nationality.

Police said Wanna rented an apartment in Min Buri in eastern Bangkok for the man.

A sketch of the unidentified man, who looks to be a foreigner, was issued along with the arrest warrant.

The wanted woman left Thailand on July 1 from Phuket airport for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, according to a police source. Video footage showed her with a man who looks like the man in the police sketch. However, there is no immigration record of him leaving Thailand.

A search of Wanna's rented room found gunpowder, urea fertiliser and other bomb-making materials, Royal Thai Police spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said.

Police searched her house in Phang Nga yesterday afternoon. A relative of Wanna at the house said she was in Turkey, the country of her husband.

The relative said Wanna had insisted she was not involved with the blasts and would come back soon to turn herself in to police.

But Prawut said: "We are confident that these two people are in the same group of people responsible for the blasts at the Ratchaprasong intersection and the Sathon pier."

He said more arrest warrants would be issued soon but declined elaborate.

The foreigner of unknown nationality arrested on Saturday at an apartment in Nong Chok is still denying involvement in the blasts, a source said. However, substances found on his clothes were similar to what was used in the bombs.

Police will conduct a DNA test in a bid to confirm his link with the blasts, the source added.

The man, who held a fake Turkish passport, is being detained at the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok's Dusit district, where security has been increased. No media are allowed to take photographs or do video recordings at the agency.

Prawut dismissed a report that police were detaining four Palestinians in connection with the investigation. But he could not confirm or deny they were being detained by the military.

The spokesman said police were conducting searches in many locations but declined to discuss the operation in detail. He urged owners of apartment buildings with foreign tenants to prepare copies of CCTV recordings of the tenants for police examination.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang met Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House yesterday to report on progress in the investigation. The PM told reporters afterwards that the mass media should avoid making wild speculation about the case or they could further complicate the probe.

In the government's newsletter for September 1 (today), General Prayut wrote: "I and all the Cabinet members promise that we will do the best of our ability to prevent such an incident from happening again. And we will find all the perpetrators to be punished in accordance with the law."

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