Bangkok police round up child-smuggling gang

BANGKOK: --Seventy five people were arrested last night after police from the Child and Youth Welfare division and local district officials conducted a comprehensive trawl of the capital’s streets in a bid to crack down on child smuggling.

Fanning out among six points in the capital, the police arrested 38 Thai nationals and 37 foreigners, the majority of whom were Cambodian.

Of these, 21 were children who had been smuggled in from Cambodia by gang leaders.

One of the men arrested last night was Mr. Sura Phuikhampha, aged 25, is known for purchasing children as young as five years old from the Cambodian border town of Poi Pet, with each child costing between Bt1,000 and Bt1,500.

Police are now hunting for Mr. Sura’s Cambodian wife, claimed to be the head of the smuggling operation.

Police said that the children, who were forced to beg on the streets of the capital, would now be repatriated to Cambodia.

--TNA 2004-11-10

cant imagine it took much smuggling, theres dozens of them running about begging for 1 baht @ the thai side of the boarder

Do not give money to beggars. Give food or something which can't be sold.

aye aye, u seem like a real clever guy 2 me ...........

Yeah, saw one Cambodian boy last night begging at the bottom of the sky train steps at Sala Daeng. He was missing both hands and a foot. He wasn't older than 11 years old. I bought him some sticky rice and satay. He still wanted the coins though, because they have to turn it over at the end of the night.

You can always tell the beggars that are smuggled in by a gang, because they are dropped off in succession and all you have to do is walk further up the street to see the pattern of them being dropped off 10-20 meters from each other.

Still, don't forget that they are the exploited, both ways.

Bangkok police round up child-smuggling gang 

BANGKOK: --Seventy five people were arrested last night after police from the Child and Youth Welfare division and local district officials conducted a comprehensive trawl of the capital’s streets in a bid to crack down on child smuggling.

Fanning out among six points in the capital, the police arrested 38 Thai nationals and 37 foreigners, the majority of whom were Cambodian. 

Of these, 21 were children who had been smuggled in from Cambodia by gang leaders.

One of the men arrested last night was Mr. Sura Phuikhampha, aged 25, is known for purchasing children as young as five years old from the Cambodian border town of Poi Pet, with each child costing between Bt1,000 and Bt1,500.

Police are now hunting for Mr. Sura’s Cambodian wife, claimed to be the head of the smuggling operation.

Police said that the children, who were forced to beg on the streets of the capital, would now be repatriated to Cambodia.

--TNA 2004-11-10

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This is a problem that will not be solved anytime soon. The border with Cambodia is too porous to stop the flood of illegals that enter monthly. The penalty must be severe enough to deter the smugglers from repeated attempts. That may slow down the exploitation of children, but I don't think we will see beggar free streets by next year.

I didn't see any mention of Farangs, which is good.

It does help quash the argument that we are responsible for all these evils!!

I didn't see any mention of Farangs, which is good.

It does help quash the argument that we are responsible for all these evils!!

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Simply because there were no farangs mentioned does not mean the Thai authorities will not find a way to blame 'evil foreigners'. The Thais are not very good at accepting blame or fault for any problem that becomes public.

A while ago, we had a major problem with children selling flowers in this town. Was getting to the stage where it was almost impossible to have a quiet beer or a conversation without being interrupted every few minutes.

Eventually, an English lady who'd been on holiday here, wrote to The Queen saying how much she'd enjoyed her time here, except for the children selling flowers.

Almost immediately, the police announced that any child under the age of 12 seen selling flowers after 9pm without an adult in attendence, would be taken to the police station and kept there until their parents claimed them. Any non-Thais, mainly Burmese, were repatriated. Thai parents who didn't come forward would find that their children had been sent to a "special" school.

Sure took care of the situation - for about 2 weeks. The Queen then went back to BKK. The little unfortunates were back on the streets again the next night.

I just don't see what can be done about cases like these, unless the authorities make a long term, concerted effort to target the people running the kids. One-off crackdowns don't solve anything.

I guess that bus stop in Chinatown won't be so crowded for the next couple of weeks....

A while ago, we had a major problem with children selling flowers in this town. Was getting to the stage where it was almost impossible to have a quiet beer or a conversation without being interrupted every few minutes.

Eventually, an English lady who'd been on holiday here, wrote to The Queen saying how much she'd enjoyed her time here, except for the children selling flowers.

Almost immediately, the police announced that any child under the age of 12 seen selling flowers after 9pm without an adult in attendence, would be taken to the police station and kept there until their parents claimed them. Any non-Thais, mainly Burmese, were repatriated. Thai parents who didn't come forward would find that their children had been sent to a "special" school.

Sure took care of the situation - for about 2 weeks. The Queen then went back to BKK. The little unfortunates were back on the streets again the next night.

I just don't see what can be done about cases like these, unless the authorities make a long term, concerted effort to target the people running the kids. One-off crackdowns don't solve anything.

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This is why the LOS can be so frustrating. The police can do their job effectively during crackdowns, but not day after day, year after year. I am not hopeful the situation will change any time soon.

Quote - Kat.....

"Yeah, saw one Cambodian boy last night begging at the bottom of the sky train steps at Sala Daeng. He was missing both hands and a foot. He wasn't older than 11 years old. I bought him some sticky rice and satay."

Haha I had to laugh at this......no hands and you got him sticky rice !!!!

I know you mean well, but it is funny ! Sometimes sticky rice is really sticky and you can tget it off your fingers...imagine this little fella with it up to his elbows ! Hopefully someone will feed it to him.