About 20 Thai and Lao girls aged 15 to 18 years being forced to provide sexual services were rescued in a raid on a karaoke shop in Don Tum district of Nakhon Pathom province late Tuesday night, according to Khao Sod Online.
Video by Apichit Jinakul
The raid, about 11.45pm, was carried out by anti-human trafficking police led by Pol Maj Gen Noraboon Naenna, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, following a tip-off from the Pavena Hongsakula Foundation for Children and Women.
Some Lao girls who worked at Nong Fuse karaoke shop had sought help from the foundation by sending messages on mobile phones.
The police found about 20 Thai and Lao girls, aged 15-18, who claimed they were being forced to provide sexual services to clients. They were taken to Ban Kredtrakan rehabilitation home operated by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry in Nonthaburi.
The Lao girls were from Vientiane and Savannakhet.
One of the Lao girls, name withheld, said she and her friends entered Thailand as tourists after being offered work at the Kaoroke shop by Thai agents. Only later did they find out that the shop was a front for prostitution.
She said they were forced to have sex with clients who were charged 800-1,000 baht a time, but they received only 150-200 baht. They were confined in a large room, which was crowded and filthy, and were not allowed to go out.