American pimp arrested in northern Thailand was running Burmese sex ring on Facebook

[Eirene]

Just a heads up people. There are a couple of posters here that are stalking people on this forum...taking screenshots of your posts and posting them on twitter. With most forums this is against TOS. These two have been obsessed with the Koh Tao case for years and anyone that doesn't agree with them. One should wonder why.

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, jsflynn603 said:

I am really confused.  Trafficking is the "selling" or literally imprisonment (be it by real imprisonment, or hooking a woman on drugs) women.

 

The article indicates that both are over age 18 and it appears to be nothing other than prostitution. 

 

In Thailand about 14% of ALL women work in the sex trade at some time.  So every "bar" owner is a sex trafficker?

 

I mean, really, of course he is not allowed to "work" without a permit in Thailand, but come on....every tourist that comes to Thailand for sex finds it, be it from the hooker herself, or from an intermediate, usually the bar owner.  So just how is this different? 

 

Did I miss something?

 

He was selling the girls to other men .

He was selling/renting out females to other men and transporting them from one County to another .

   Bar owners get away with it because they dont receive the money for the sexual encounter , Jim made the mistake of receiving the money and thus makes him a pimp

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, IslandLover said:

No wonder Mr. Albertsen doesn't want a lawyer provided by the U.S. Embassy.  It seems he was "entrapped" by two U.S. agents.

 

 

There is a bridge and a check-point between the two border crossings .

He would not have been able to jump across the border from Thailand  to Myanmar , before entering Myanmar , he would have needed to get stamped out of Thailand .

    

 

 

[gk10002000]

OK, so they are chicks for hire.   Many people have hired a "tour guide" in Thailand to show them around.   Such things are common in many countries one visits.  You hire a local for a few days or a week.   Now if this crossed the line into human trafficking, I doubt it.  Unless the guy is really nutty enough to openly advertise on Face book for sex and other stuff, which can't tell from the details in the article

[JLCrab]

So while the arrest came from the cross-border sting set up on the night in question, there must have been something done prior for the various authorities to want to set up and arrange for the sting in the first place.

 

Details, I guess, to follow.

[Credo]

26 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

So while the arrest came from the cross-border sting set up on the night in question, there must have been something done prior for the various authorities to want to set up and arrange for the sting in the first place.

 

Details, I guess, to follow.

It may well have come from having a Facebook page that advertised the service.   It may also have come from a tip-off that started the investigation.   

 

[nausea]

6 hours ago, Credo said:

He was an easy mark and he was actively involved.    He's not a lot different than the police picking up the guy selling a small quantity of drugs.   They are easy picking.

Agree. Thailand is under pressure on human trafficking. Mr. Albertson, a guy running what seems to be "sex" tours to Myanmar, is very low hanging fruit and he allowed himself to be picked. I say allowed cos it sounds like he was induced to bring two girls across the border and put himself squarely in the human trafficking bracket. And all for a pitiful 3000bt. You wouldn't get much bling for that.

 

14 hours ago, wcoast said:

He had never done this type of in Thailand scenario before in that he always took the people into Myanmar and pointed out the red light district. These two foreigners were adamant that they didn't want to go into Myanmar and they wanted the girls to come and meet them in Thailand. When in Mae Sai they went to the hotel and asked him what he wanted for the tour they ended up giving him 3,000baht in marked 500's and then he called the mamasan lady who brought the ladies to the hotel. They were told the price 4000baht per lady for the night to which they argued a lot with the mamasan but she wasn't budging and they finally paid her.

Seems fairly credible to me. The only thing I would question is just how involved he was in Myanmar. Might have been a little more than "pointed out the red light district" I suppose. That he had an arrangement to provide girls with this mamasan suggests similar arrangements might've existed within Myanmar itself.

 

Thanks to wcoast by the way, it's always good to get the other side's version.

 

PS It's clear from the original article that the girls were of legal age. On a moral, as opposed to legal, level I find it difficult to distinguish this case from the bar fining that goes on here all the time. I also feel some empathy for the women that've been dragged into this by Mr. Albertson's foolishness, even the mamasan (assuming it follows the usual bar fining model, i.e. no coercion involved apart from economic need).  

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

 

[BobBKK]

24 and 18?  and none of those types are in the bars in Soi Cowboy?  or Pattaya?  he was a fool to be involved but the hypocrisy stinks!

[FarangRimPing]

We don't know the full story and perhaps never will but in this forum, personal conclusions are often stated as fact.

 

For example, someone stated that Ken brought these 2 Myanmar women into Thailand, from Myanmar. I really doubt that's the case. Mae Sai has many Myanmar people staying there. On any day, go to the border market, in Mae Sai, and just see how many Myanmar people are there. You'll find a large percentage of the people being from Myanmar.

[wcoast]

Honestly if ppl are going to comment, they should at least read the bulk of the threads here for background.

Imho it's quite a stretch to say Ken was bringing women into Thailand. He knew a mamasan that could procure women on the Myanmar side, and he brought men into Myanmar to the red light area.
ONLY on this day in question, because the sting operatives refused to travel to Myanmar (thereby creating the scenario/crime of cross border human trafficking) did the mamasan bring the women into Thailand.
Ken lamented to me in hindsight that this red flag deviation from the norm was his downfall.
I'm not excusing or lessening, just trying to keep the facts in order. This sting would not have come to fruition with the highly cited "human trafficking" moniker had he stuck to his usual routine, as misguided/unsavory as it was.

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[sceadugenga]

Post claiming prostitution in Thailand is not illegal removed.

 

The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) is the statute most directly prohibiting prostitution. Under the act, the definition of "prostitution" is "Sexual intercourse, or any other act, or the commission of any other act in order to gratify the sexual desire of another person in a promiscuous manner in return for money or any other benefit, irrespective of whether the person who accepts the act and the person who commits the act are of the same sex or not." A clear definition of the phrase "in a promiscuous manner" is not provided

 

 

[balo]

8 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Now if this crossed the line into human trafficking, I doubt it.  Unless the guy is really nutty enough to openly advertise on Face book for sex and other stuff, which can't tell from the details in the article

Didn't you visit his facebook page ? He openly admitted he took tourists on sex trips to Myanmar. 

 

[sanemax]

8 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Unless the guy is really nutty enough to openly advertise on Face book for sex and other stuff, which can't tell from the details in the article

If you would have read this whole thread, you would have seen someone post his facebook adverts and also his craiglist advert was mentioned  .

   Why dont you read the whole thread first, before asking questions ?

[balo]

I'm sorry but this line alone : "Kenneth Albertson had put advertisements on Facebook and Craigslist. One of the sites was "Burmese Border Chicks For Hire"." 

 

If he did not gain any money from it , he is not a pimp , if he did get paid for it , he is a pimp and case closed. 

 

 

 

[sanemax]

On 5/8/2018 at 2:41 PM, missoura said:

From the FB site mentioned in the article.

"Hi Ken , I would like to go on one of your tours of Tachilek to see all the sights, you know, the Temples and museums and things and I would like an over night tour"

    We had a nice day out and now its nighttime , "Ken , do you know of any nice bars in Tachilek" , "Actually, I do, theres a nice friendly bar , straight down this road, turn right and keep going for three minutes, see you again tomorrow"

[HooHaa]

11 hours ago, IslandLover said:

No wonder Mr. Albertsen doesn't want a lawyer provided by the U.S. Embassy.  It seems he was "entrapped" by two U.S. agents.

 

 

This almost directly quotes the "well-intenioned" thai visa member who paid him an unsolicited visit.

 

So many people trying to get in on the act. 

[sceadugenga]

If you notice the absence of a former regular contributor to this thread it's because he continued down this speculation path after being told not to.

 

Now knock it off.

[balo]

 One of the regular posters from CR has not been online for a few days . 

[JLCrab]

(Analogy time): Gee that's like having a big birthday party bash and everyone except the guy with the birthday is invited.

[wcoast]

I'd liken it to a wake.

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[JLCrab]

Nah you'd always be invited to your own wake and if not you could show up anyway. 

[mogandave]

Nah you'd always be invited to your own wake and if not you could show up anyway. 

Yeah, somebody has to buy...

[brewsterbudgen]

Post claiming prostitution in Thailand is not illegal removed.
 
The Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, B.E. 2539 (1996) is the statute most directly prohibiting prostitution. Under the act, the definition of "prostitution" is "Sexual intercourse, or any other act, or the commission of any other act in order to gratify the sexual desire of another person in a promiscuous manner in return for money or any other benefit, irrespective of whether the person who accepts the act and the person who commits the act are of the same sex or not." A clear definition of the phrase "in a promiscuous manner" is not provided
 
 

Fair enough; except that that's a very simplistic reading of the legislation that regulates the provision of sexual services in Thailand. Obviously not for this thread.

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[lannarebirth]

Just noticed this thread. Read the headline and knew who it was going to be before I got to the name. High inverse self righteousness co efficient.

[lannarebirth]

On 8/5/2561 at 1:10 AM, cardinalblue said:

Working w/o a work permit? A fool who was probably used for his english and planning skills...

 

is he the mastermind? The big fish behind the scenes?

 

that person is in burma on the supply side of the equation..

 

think of of it as drug cartel leadership running this side show....

 

He is not a mastermind in any sense. Just someone with a big dose of entitlement and hubris.

[lannarebirth]

On 8/5/2561 at 5:56 AM, mogandave said:

 

Yes, a I would like to have serious discussion as well.

I think he was likely framed.

 

 

Quite possibly although no one I ever met in Thailand put themselves so easily in a position to be framed as this guy.

[lannarebirth]

On 9/5/2561 at 5:01 AM, OzzyJohn said:

 From know-alls that know nothing. No facts in their possession. Only the headlines they are attracted to, subsequently home in on, and then decide, through arrogance, that they are well-positioned to judge every situation. 

 

That is a perfect description of the the accused in the OP.

[wcoast]

Some question my motives...

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[sanemax]

18 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I don't understand.

Did Americans get involved into some poorly run pimping operation no one could give a crap about? 

One report says that the undercover Police were Thai tourist Police , another report says that they were U.S operatives .