george Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Crackdown on prostitution: 57 alleged prostitutes rounded up in Phuket Town PHUKET TOWN: -- A team of provincial civil defense officials and volunteer police on Sunday night raided three well-known entertainment venues, in the heart of Phuket Town, suspected of serving as fronts for prostitution. A spokesperson from the Phuket Provincial Office Public Relations Bureau said the raids were ordered by Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop following complaints from local residents that the three venues – two massage parlors and a nightclub – were actually fronts for prostitution. A total of 57 alleged female prostitutes, including at least one Burmese girl under the age of 18, were rounded up by the special task force led by Phuket Deputy Governor (Palad) Chaiwat Tephee, Phuket Provincial Defense Office head Wirote Suwanwong, and volunteer police. One of the venues raided is a long-established massage parlor that specializes in full service ‘soapy’ massages by sexily-attired women who wear numbers and sit inside a glass display case waiting to be called by potential customers. Among the evidence seized in a search of service rooms inside the building were used condoms, according to the spokesperson. There was no mention of any involvement by Phuket City Police. Rather, the women and some of the brothel operators were taken by pick-up to the Muang District Office, where they were questioned and informed of the various infractions they had committed. One local cable television news show showed footage of the raids last night. Most of those taken into custody were released after paying fines, but an unspecified number of illegal "aliens" were taken to Immigration Police for processing and possible deportation. Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop said the raids were just the first in what will be a strict and ongoing crackdown on prostitution. According to official police statistics, there were a total of 1,588 people arrested for prostitution in 2009, up 13.3% year-on-year. There were 225 arrests for prostitution-related charges in December 2009, just over double the figure from December 2008. With the possible exception of the Burmese, however, it is unlikely that Sunday night's raids will be included in official crime statistics since most of the alleged prostitutes were released without being charged. -- Phuket Gazette 2010-01-26 [newsfooter][/newsfooter] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilHarries Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. I wonder why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geovalin Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 "Among the evidence seized in a search of service rooms inside the building were used condoms, according to the spokesperson." This is not an evidence that the place was a brothel but proofs this was a pigsty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonititan Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. And how about the male customers? Were any of them rounded up and fined? That's crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancelot Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I wonder if Thailand is reaching the "Tipping Point" as in the authorities are increasingly uncomfortable with the LOS's international reputation with respect to prostitution. Of course it could also just be an isolated case of some owner(s) not tendering the usual tea money to the proper persons. My gut tells me that the naughty night life scene may not be encouraged as in the past and only tolerated if it is more discreet. Time will tell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtemZ Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 (edited) Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. And how about the male customers? Were any of them rounded up and fined? That's crap. Agreed. Even more: I think that only male customers must be fined. Girls should be punished by whipping Edited January 26, 2010 by ArtemZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobber9999 Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Surely there are more than 57 women in Phuket? Why not just arrest them all and discard a few? Were there any ladyboys included in that figure I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaigerd Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. I wonder why not? Because the owner is..................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerostar Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Oh.. the utter hypocrisy of it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaneggspurt Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Phuket ?......what a sleazy place ,im staying in Pattaya,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaneggspurt Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. I wonder why not? Because the owner is..................... Now skint ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murf Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Let's hope the police don't ever find out about what goes on in Bangla Road... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilDrSomkid Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Surely there are more than 57 women in Phuket? Why not just arrest them all and discard a few? Were there any ladyboys included in that figure I wonder? Read what it said: A total of 57 alleged female prostitutes, including at least one Burmese girl under the age of 18, were rounded up by I lolled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaihog Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 (edited) The owner obviously wasn't paying enough, or said something untoward and was taught a lesson... simple as that... Edited January 26, 2010 by Thaihog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungryINbangkok Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 On a related note: Juan Valdez was arrested for selling coffee, Papa Smurf was charging for being blue, and a local brown bear may serve as many as 30 days in jail for crapping in the woods. I cannot begin to express how utterly stupid this makes those in charge look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonititan Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Despite the serious nature of the charges, there was no mention of any criminal charges filed against the venue owners. And how about the male customers? Were any of them rounded up and fined? That's crap. Agreed. Even more: I think that only male customers must be fined. Girls should be punished by whipping Ok, ok, good point. I forgot that there technically could be female customers too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibkk Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I guess they were doing a crackdown on foreign bar-pimps owners as everybody seemed to be thai = no problemo only a few brown envelopes switched hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Once Thaksin or his proxies are back in, this'll all be history . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucegoniners Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Let's hope the police don't ever find out about what goes on in Bangla Road... Exactly. That's ground zero for the scene in Phuket (or so I hear). I agree with an earlier comment that some people didn't pay their bribes and were punished. Are you telling me that the police don't know what goes on at a soapy massage? hel_l, they're probably some of the best clients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YanTree Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Good for them. I wouldn't mind a nice big prostitution crackdown. I can't stand it when the first thing people say when I say I live in Thailand is something about the women or sex or prostitution or AIDS. Sex will always be easy to come by here for foreigners, but it does not need to be advertised so openly and for sale everywhere you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mythBuster Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Quite understandable. Now the Democrat led government is running their own massagae parlors (Poseidon, owned by Thailand's minister of commerce and her family) their is no reason to root out the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topsecret Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Wonder when they will catch the other 28 Million prostitutes in Thailand Looks like they will go after falang bar/brothel owners in the industry (cant have that) and Thais who are not paying enough tea money. Soon it will all settle down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastlight Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Good for them. I wouldn't mind a nice big prostitution crackdown. I can't stand it when the first thing people say when I say I live in Thailand is something about the women or sex or prostitution or AIDS. Sex will always be easy to come by here for foreigners, but it does not need to be advertised so openly and for sale everywhere you go. For goodness sake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I wonder if Thailand is reaching the "Tipping Point" as in the authorities are increasingly uncomfortable with the LOS's international reputation with respect to prostitution. Of course it could also just be an isolated case of some owner(s) not tendering the usual tea money to the proper persons. My gut tells me that the naughty night life scene may not be encouraged as in the past and only tolerated if it is more discreet. Time will tell Personally i think its just a 'storm in a teacup' - some bar owner p*ssed off the wrong copper or didnt pay his monthly tea money... ... if they were serious about it, the could easily arrest hundreds (or dare i say thousands) of 'working girls' In Patong, or even further south in Kata, Karon or Rawai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Once Thaksin or his proxies are back in, this'll all be history . . . Than we have again the crackdown on dive centers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 If this spreads to be a nationwide crack down, then the prisons will be full to bursting, if they are not already... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordWill Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 ThaiDict: Sorry, we could not find a direct match for your search "hypocrisy" in the dictionary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dap Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 It all just boggles the mind. Welcome to "Toontown" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Bottom Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 One local cable television news show showed footage of the raids last night. Own up - who's hogging the youTube link? C'mon, share the joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skorchio Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 I wonder if Thailand is reaching the "Tipping Point" as in the authorities are increasingly uncomfortable with the LOS's international reputation with respect to prostitution. Of course it could also just be an isolated case of some owner(s) not tendering the usual tea money to the proper persons. My gut tells me that the naughty night life scene may not be encouraged as in the past and only tolerated if it is more discreet. Time will tell Tolerate if it was more discreet? They id the raid in Phuket town, where there are a few soapie shops. There are hundreds of massage joints in Patong, and discretion is not their business......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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