gotlost Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 (edited) 13 girls rescued after raid on karaoke bar Provincial Police Region 5 officers joined forces with antihuman trafficking organisations to raid a karaoke bar in Chiang Mai's Muang district Wednesday and rescue 13 female workers, including three girls aged under 18. Together with the Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit Northern Thailand (Trafcord) and the Counter Human Trafficking Unit (CTU), police raided the "Mida" karaoke bar in Tambon Chang Pheuk at 12.30am and arrested bar manager and cashier Peerapat Mayer, 29, and three associates, Apha Thakhamma, 22, Songpong Mayer, 20, and Narongrit Chaiyawan, 38. They also seized as evidence the bar's two account books, Bt2,500 in cash used in the police sting operation, another Bt3,760 in cash, one plastic coin worth Bt200 for a sex worker to trade for payment from the bar, and three motorcycles used to deliver the sex workers. The Nation Edited February 16, 2011 by gotlost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loaded Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Sounds like one of the many little sleaze holes on the road that cuts across from the main Santitam road and the new Tops supermarket off Chang Puak Road. They are around 20m from a local government office and a fire station. I guess Thai government and fire station officers didn't notice these pink lighted 'bars' before Still another 9 bars to clean up, but I guess these have been paying their 'taxes' to the local police, so it might be a while before we read about the BIB doing their job there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Sounds like one of the Thai brothels with indentured workers who started pretending to be "karaoke bars " many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Karaoke - brothel - massage --- same same. Haven't been there in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lite Beer Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Link to the Article. -- The Nation 2011-02-16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanForbes Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Did anyone ask the young women if they WANTED to be rescued? Sounds more like the bar didn't pay the local police their take of the profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Well, you got to draw a line somewhere to protect children/teenagers. 'Rescue' is perhaps an overstatement, but a pre-18 year old has no business being in the entertainment industry. (aka flesh trade). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puwa Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Before this thread gets out of hand, I want to point out that coerced prostitution and human trafficking are thoroughly documented realities in Thailand, especially where minors and migrants are concerned. As foreigners, we generally aren't exposed to these aspects of the industry, but instead to voluntary and willing service providers-- bargirls, freelancers, etc. Please let's not confuse the apparently happy-go-lucky friends at No 1 Bar with young girls held in debt bondage in brothels. Raids on such places are initiated by special police and social welfare agencies, not the local cops on the take. "Rescue" may be an awkward term, and in this particular case who among us really knows the facts, but stopping this kind of exploitation is the right and lawful thing to do. Anyone care to disagree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanForbes Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 I agree with your post, Puwa, and Winnie's viewpoint as well, but maybe I'm just a bit jaded with certain authorities. At least someone is starting to wake up and do something about the indentured women. It's been a national disgrace for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Before this thread gets out of hand, I want to point out that coerced prostitution and human trafficking are thoroughly documented realities in Thailand, especially where minors and migrants are concerned. As foreigners, we generally aren't exposed to these aspects of the industry, but instead to voluntary and willing service providers-- bargirls, freelancers, etc. Please let's not confuse the apparently happy-go-lucky friends at No 1 Bar with young girls held in debt bondage in brothels. Raids on such places are initiated by special police and social welfare agencies, not the local cops on the take. "Rescue" may be an awkward term, and in this particular case who among us really knows the facts, but stopping this kind of exploitation is the right and lawful thing to do. Anyone care to disagree? Don't disagree with stopping exploitation of course. But I may disagree with the premise that 'As foreigners, we generally aren't exposed to these aspects of the industry'. That may be a little to easy. We live and party in Chiang Mai; we're exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THAIJAMES Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Before this thread gets out of hand, I want to point out that coerced prostitution and human trafficking are thoroughly documented realities in Thailand, especially where minors and migrants are concerned. As foreigners, we generally aren't exposed to these aspects of the industry, but instead to voluntary and willing service providers-- bargirls, freelancers, etc. Please let's not confuse the apparently happy-go-lucky friends at No 1 Bar with young girls held in debt bondage in brothels. Raids on such places are initiated by special police and social welfare agencies, not the local cops on the take. "Rescue" may be an awkward term, and in this particular case who among us really knows the facts, but stopping this kind of exploitation is the right and lawful thing to do. Anyone care to disagree? Well unfortunately this raid will not likely have any effect. First, if the girls are under debt bondage, they probably will not be willing to testify for fear of violence against them or their families. Second they will be forced to pay back their family's debts. They are also probably supporting their families financially. Third, it will be hard for them to go back to their villages and not be stigmatised. So even-though the girls are under 18 and this is illegal, they are likely to be back on the streets in a short time unless they get very good support from local NGOs and their family gets financial support to replace lost income. Many hill tribes get married around the age of 13-16 so having them understand the legal age of 18 is a foreign concept. In a desperate situation, some believe that they have an asset, which may be their looks or sexual appeal and they should have the right to use their assets for monetary gain considering the desperate situation that they are in. You could go so far as to say that by having a raid like this, you are depriving the girls of much needed income, putting them and their family in grave danger of violence against them and leaving them and their families in a more desperate situations because the lack of money. I think the only solution is to provide job training, and replacement income until they are able to be financially stable. Not easy. This is not likely to work unless there is strong enforcement and shutting down these kind of places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfact Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Topic runs in News Clippings 13 girls rescued from prostitution after raid on karaoke bar in Chiang Mai's Muang district Follow this link: //CLOSED// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts