Five senior police officers have been transferred and the man accused of running a Bangkok massage parlour that sold sex has been detained on human trafficking charges.
Pol Col Thammanoon Bunruang, superintendent of the Wang Thonglang police station, is among those moved out following the raid on Friday at the Victoria's Secret massage parlour in the district.
Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers, police and soldiers rounded up 113 women, mostly from Myanmar. The ages of all the women are still being verified as some were believed to be underage.
There were also reports that officers found a list of "special guests" who received discounted services. Among them were said to be high-ranking officials from the Royal Thai Police and the Revenue Department.
Also transferred from the Wang Thonglang station were Pol Lt Col Naren Khreungsanuk, deputy superintendent for investigation; Pol Lt Col Pichai Thoontham, deputy superintendent for crime suppression; Pol Lt Col Dechawas Chankasikam, crime suppression chief; and Pol Lt Col Pratya Boonyuen, investigation chief, Thai media reported.
Pol Lt Gen Charnthep Selsavej, the Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, said the transfers to the bureau’s operations centre, effective immediately, were intended to ensure transparency in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Court on Saturday approved the detention of Boonsap Amornratanasiri, 55, believed to be the chief supervisor of the women.
He faces five charges related to trafficking girls under 15 for prostitution. DSI officials sought permission to detain him pending the questioning of 22 more witnesses. He denies all the charges.
Criminal suspects can be detained for seven 12-day periods, or 84 days in total, before formal charges are laid.
Mr Boonsap's relatives put up 500,000 baht in cash as surety for bail but the court turned down the bail request, saying he was accused of committing offences against children, which would carry severe punishment. He was detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.
Pol Col Songsak Raksaksakul, the DSI deputy chief, told Thai media on Saturday that 113 women worked at Victoria’s Secret. Of the total, 92 are from Myanmar, 14 from Laos and two from China. Four were Thais and one had no identification documents.
Bone density tests will be conducted to determine their ages and if none of them is below 18, they won’t be involved in the human trafficking charges but may face charges of assembling at a prostitution den, he said.
According to the detention request filed by the DSI, from July 2014 to May 2016 Nan Lutt, a Myanmar woman, and Somchai Mongkolvarapaiboon, her Thai husband, persuaded Shan girls who were not yet 15 at the time to cross from Myanmar to Thailand. They were then brought to stay at an apartment in Bangkok.
The girls later became sex workers at the massage parlour on Soi Soonvijai 4 off Rama IX Road in Huai Khwang district, the DSI said.
Customers would pay the cashier to obtain sex services and the couple received money every month at the den. Mr Boonsap reportedly managed the operation and dealt with police when problems occurred.
On May 5, 2016, the couple sent the girls to work as sex workers in Malaysia but they could not continue working there and asked to return to Thailand.
Last week, their relatives repaid 90,000 baht for the debts the girls owed them and contacted social workers to take the girls to a rehabilitation centre in Nonthaburi.
Mr Boonsap was charged with seeking illegitimate gains from prostitution by procuring, detaining or accepting girls under 15, collaborating with human trafficking, harbouring illegal migrants and participating in international crime.
