A missing persons case leads police to suspected child prostitution rackets
The arrest of a woman early this week in Trat gave the police another socially disturbing case to work on.
Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) investigators received a telephone call from the Pavena Hongsakula Foundation for Women and Children to report a missing girl.
In May, a distraught woman went to the foundation to report that her teenage daughter had left her home in Bangkok and had not been heard from since.
She was afraid her daughter might have been kidnapped and sold to a brothel.
Pol Col Yutthaphume Panlainak, the division superintendent, said a team of investigators set to work immediately. They soon turned up credible information that led them to Chon Buri.
They nabbed a transvestite in the eastern province who had procured the missing girl, police say.
The AHTD found another girl from Bangkok who had allegedly been forced into prostitution by the suspect.
The first girl was sent home to her mother, while the second was interviewed by the police.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said the second girl, a 14-year-old identified as Bee, told investigators that she had run away from her home in Bang Sue district in Bangkok after her own mother had sold her as prostitute.
Police said Bee told them her mother claimed she had cancer and prodded her to drop out of school and work as a prostitute to pay for her treatment.
The superintendent said police compiled evidence before issuing an arrest warrant for the mother, Uea-aree, 29. Her surname was withheld.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said after the mother learned that Bee was in police custody, she fled to Trat, arousing police suspicion.
Police said the transvestite and Ms Uea-aree were suspected of operating separate procurement gangs.
He said police investigators spent weeks tracking Ms Uea-aree with the aid of informants.
They were able to locate and arrest her in Muang district of Trat late last week.
The woman categorically denied she had sold her daughter to the flesh trade.
"I honestly thought she did odd jobs somewhere. No mother in the world would make their children sell themselves for them.
"I couldn't and it never crossed my mind," Ms Uea-aree told police.
Police said Ms Uea-are has a history of drug abuse.
Police say Ms Uea-are told them Bee came home one day and handed her more than 10,000 baht in cash. She had no idea where the money came from and did not ask.
After that, police said Ms Uea-aree learned Bee was living with a pimp, presumably the transvestite suspect.
Police say Ms Uea-aree admitted that she herself had a few girls "under her care".
"I have many mouths to feed. But I never forced my daughter to work as prostitute. The pimp did," she said.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said Ms Uea-aree has been charged with procuring girls aged 15 or under, and torture.
Police suspect that domestic violence may have driven Bee to run away from home.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said an interrogation of the suspects related to the Chon Buri procurement case found a customer is charged 1,500 baht. The pimp would take a cut of 800-1,000 baht and the rest would go to the girl.
"The most depressing part is when the mother arranged for her daughter to sleep with a client for the first time. The mother walked away with 30,000 baht and she protested she was innocent. Of course, anyone would deny a hand in the crime," the police colonel said.
The AHTD superintendent said there has been a growing number of girls being lured into the sex trade by strangers they meet online.
Police found the girl whose mother went to the Pavena foundation was offered a job by "friends" on her Facebook page before she disappeared.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said unsuspecting youngsters often fall prey to the hidden dangers of online communications.
Most young people take smartphones or tablet PCs everywhere these days and for much of the time they use the internet unsupervised. "The danger [of sex trade procurers] has crept into the home," he said.
The arrest of a woman early this week in Trat gave the police another socially disturbing case to work on.
Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) investigators received a telephone call from the Pavena Hongsakula Foundation for Women and Children to report a missing girl.
In May, a distraught woman went to the foundation to report that her teenage daughter had left her home in Bangkok and had not been heard from since.
She was afraid her daughter might have been kidnapped and sold to a brothel.
Pol Col Yutthaphume Panlainak, the division superintendent, said a team of investigators set to work immediately. They soon turned up credible information that led them to Chon Buri.
They nabbed a transvestite in the eastern province who had procured the missing girl, police say.
The AHTD found another girl from Bangkok who had allegedly been forced into prostitution by the suspect.
The first girl was sent home to her mother, while the second was interviewed by the police.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said the second girl, a 14-year-old identified as Bee, told investigators that she had run away from her home in Bang Sue district in Bangkok after her own mother had sold her as prostitute.
Police said Bee told them her mother claimed she had cancer and prodded her to drop out of school and work as a prostitute to pay for her treatment.
The superintendent said police compiled evidence before issuing an arrest warrant for the mother, Uea-aree, 29. Her surname was withheld.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said after the mother learned that Bee was in police custody, she fled to Trat, arousing police suspicion.
Police said the transvestite and Ms Uea-aree were suspected of operating separate procurement gangs.
He said police investigators spent weeks tracking Ms Uea-aree with the aid of informants.
They were able to locate and arrest her in Muang district of Trat late last week.
The woman categorically denied she had sold her daughter to the flesh trade.
"I honestly thought she did odd jobs somewhere. No mother in the world would make their children sell themselves for them.
"I couldn't and it never crossed my mind," Ms Uea-aree told police.
Police said Ms Uea-are has a history of drug abuse.
Police say Ms Uea-are told them Bee came home one day and handed her more than 10,000 baht in cash. She had no idea where the money came from and did not ask.
After that, police said Ms Uea-aree learned Bee was living with a pimp, presumably the transvestite suspect.
Police say Ms Uea-aree admitted that she herself had a few girls "under her care".
"I have many mouths to feed. But I never forced my daughter to work as prostitute. The pimp did," she said.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said Ms Uea-aree has been charged with procuring girls aged 15 or under, and torture.
Police suspect that domestic violence may have driven Bee to run away from home.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said an interrogation of the suspects related to the Chon Buri procurement case found a customer is charged 1,500 baht. The pimp would take a cut of 800-1,000 baht and the rest would go to the girl.
"The most depressing part is when the mother arranged for her daughter to sleep with a client for the first time. The mother walked away with 30,000 baht and she protested she was innocent. Of course, anyone would deny a hand in the crime," the police colonel said.
The AHTD superintendent said there has been a growing number of girls being lured into the sex trade by strangers they meet online.
Police found the girl whose mother went to the Pavena foundation was offered a job by "friends" on her Facebook page before she disappeared.
Pol Col Yutthaphume said unsuspecting youngsters often fall prey to the hidden dangers of online communications.
Most young people take smartphones or tablet PCs everywhere these days and for much of the time they use the internet unsupervised. "The danger [of sex trade procurers] has crept into the home," he said.
