It is against the law for a company to run a massage business on the old premises of the notorious Nataree Entertainment complex, a parlour closed in 2016 after being found offering illegal sex services.
"Any plans to open a new massage parlour, regardless of a change to the name, will not be allowed for this particular building," Pol Maj Gen Pricha Sahayanon, deputy secretary-general of Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), said yesterday about the premises in Bangkok's Huai Kwang district.
His clarification came after the company renovating the four-storey building began advertising the opening of a new massage parlour to be called Little Duck.
He said The Anti-Money Laundering Act does not prevent the commercial development of a property closed down under the law as long as the proposed new business is not the same as its predecessor.
The firm still has the right to use it for other purposes although the Nataree case has not been yet settled in court, he said.
However, the company must ask permission from Amlo and the police first.
According to investigators, the person who wanted to open Little Duck is not the same individual who was granted the licence to run Nataree Entertainment.
It was reported that the new company has tried to seek a permit for its new massage parlour venture, but to no avail.
Nataree was ordered to shut for five years after a police raid in July 2016 found many women, including underage girls, offering sex services to customers.
The raid on Nataree three years ago saw police arrest many suspects, including massage parlour manager Phonganan Khanakhet, an executive of PSS Entertainment Ltd, Somprasong Soichit, and three others, Phanarin Hanphatthanacharoen, Atapha Laemae and Lapshulap Ngoenpiam.