A 36-year-woman who allegedly used Facebook to procure underage girls for the sex trade in Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok was arrested in Chon Buri.
Thipaporn Maneenoi, alias “Madam Poo’’, was apprehended at a hotel in Si Racha district of Chon Buri on Monday night, said Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) chief Kornchai Klayklueng during a media briefing on Tuesday.
Police had initially given the woman a chance to surrender, but she kept evading the authorities, said Pol Maj Gen Kornchai.
During the interrogation, Ms Thipaporn denied forcing teenage girls to sell sex, saying they had voluntarily provided the sex services - in stark contrast to testimonies given by the girls who worked for her, including her own daughter, Thai media reported.
The woman has been charged with human trafficking by procuring girls for the flesh trade and depriving minors of parental care. Police will tomorrow seek court approval to detain her pending further investigation.
The arrest followed a raid on the V2 Entertainment massage parlour in Bangkok’s Wang Thonglang district last Tuesday, where ATPD police arrested a male receptionist.
Four other people -- including three state officials and an employee at a resort in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima -- were arrested separately in connection with the case, which involves the alleged sex trafficking of teenage girls in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The three state officials -- a tambon administration organisation chairman, an assistant district officer and a kamnan -- have been charged with gang-raping a teenage girl under the age of 18. The receptionist was charged with rape and conspiring to commit sex trafficking, while the resort employee was charged with rape.
The arrests came after parents of a 14-year-old girl contacted the Pavena Foundation last month, asking the organisation to find and help their daughter, who had run away from home.
They believed their daughter was recruited by a sex ring run by Ms Thipaporn, who goes by the name Amara Bee on Facebook.
The ATPD later raided a hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima and were able to rescue the daughter and three other girls. Police extended the probe and found other underage girls had been procured for V2 Entertainment -- where police found a 18-year-old sex worker who turned out to be Ms Thipaporn’s daughter.