8 Kids Rescued From Burmese Suspects In Chiang Mai's Muang District

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8 kids rescued from Burmese suspects

By EKKAPONG PRADITPONG

THE NATION

Chiang Mai

Police raided a rented room in Chiang Mai's Muang district yesterday morning and rescued eight children aged 3-14 from three Burmese human-trafficking suspects, who reportedly forced the kids to beg |on the street and assaulted those |failing to meet a daily target of Bt500.

Provincial Police Region chief Pol Lt-General Chaiya Siriampankul said police also arrested a Burmese man Tin Win, 57, and two Burmese women Chuay Ji, 54, and Ma Cho, 47.

Previously, two girls, aged 14 and 16, were assaulted but escaped to |tell police that they and other kids were forced to beg and the two had also been molested by the gang leader.

The three suspects said they had lived in Thailand for three years and claimed the kids were their relatives, were begging voluntarily, and they just helped by sending the kids to Waroros Market, Night Bazaar and high-traffic areas.

Chaiya said the gang allegedly lured or stole kids from Karen or Burmese families living on the opposite side of Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. Taking the kids to live in Chiang Mai, they taught them to speak Thai and beg for money, before dressing them in rags and sending them off to street sites. If any child did not meet the target of Bt500 per day, they would be beaten while Tin Win allegedly sexually harassed the girls, he added.

Police would hunt for their accomplices and rescue 10 other kids who were taken out of the room before the raid, he said. The three suspects face human trafficking, illegal entry charges while Tin Win faced the additional charge of molesting minors under 15.

-- The Nation 2011-07-27

[laurentbkk]

Reminds me Charles Dickens story back in the 19th century ... oh but this is 2011 ..poor kids ...

[tragickingdom]

Was there an NGO that wanted to get some publicity? Have a look at any overpass in Bangkok or any crossing around the country and the gangs are everywhere exploiting children. Still nobody does anything about it, because they pay the police.

[Chris Lawrence]

Very lucky children to be rescued. My wife tells me that in cases like this it is not unusual for the children to even go through amputation in order to get greater sympathy when begging.

[falang07]

Very lucky children to be rescued. My wife tells me that in cases like this it is not unusual for the children to even go through amputation in order to get greater sympathy when begging.

that means DO NOT GIVE these beggars anything and hopefully they this will not be a profitable business for their 'bosses' soon, and this can even save lives in the future

As for me, I give beggars only food, nothing else, and definitely not money

[rich54321]

What a shocker again!!!!

There appears to more and more beggars around lately amazing this has come to light - the wife and i were just talking about the beggars in ChiangMai - she also told me about children in the past who had fingers and limbs amputated - so they would look like they needed more money when begging

[buds189]

Things I dont miss about the Los

[KIWIBATCH]

Very lucky children to be rescued. My wife tells me that in cases like this it is not unusual for the children to even go through amputation in order to get greater sympathy when begging.

that means DO NOT GIVE these beggars anything and hopefully they this will not be a profitable business for their 'bosses' soon, and this can even save lives in the future

As for me, I give beggars only food, nothing else, and definitely not money

[KIWIBATCH]

I was standing at the top of a BTS staircase one evening and witnessed a street beggar "mother" beat a small child so as to cause her to cry (and gain sympathy from anyone passing) and then she thrust the child the money cup and plonked her on the staircase leading down from the platform.

Of course the mothers timing was impeccable...moments before the train disgorged its 1000 odd passengers.....how many beatings did that child get that evening I wonder.

The beggars are most definitely not of thai nationality...the many I have seen anyway.

It is an absolute bloody disgrace that this happens in this city of Bangkok...and elsewhere.

I give them food....I never give them money......by giving them food you will most definitely help save their lives...more so than by giving them money as Chris Lawrence has rightfully pointed out already.

[kangeroo]

i know there is a organization called grey men that are doing there best to help these kids .

[Chris Lawrence]

i know there is a organization called grey men that are doing there best to help these kids .

Yeah I just read a bit from their site 'The Gray Man' a military term that refers to someone who stays "under the radar" and isn't noticed. They are involved with, "tracking and gathering intelligence on child sex predators and passing the information on to the authorities. Our focus is rescue, however as a preventative measure we also provide educational infrastructure (school power, water, gardens, transport, etc) for hill-tribe villagers to release them from the poverty trap and diminish the need to traffick their children." Police checks are mandatory to join this group.

Unfortunately, begging and street selling is a way of life for some people. Again my wife tells me that the street beggars can make more than some labourer up north. I would go into Chiang Rai at night and see the same people in the same spots. Some times up at Mae Sai see the same people. They travel around. My wife felt that they were preying on the goodwill of people rather than working.

One time the loud speaker went off, saying that a baby was missing near our housing estate. Asked the wife a week later if there was any further news on the missing child, she just said no.