Police raided a karaoke bar on Bangkok’s Thaniya Road on Tuesday and rescued two 17-year-old girls working in the sex trade.
Acting on a tip-off that the karaoke joint was being used for human trafficking, Superintendent Pol Col Douangchote Suwanjalask and his deputy, Pol.Lt.Col. Satit Sorncha of Bang Rak police station led the raid as part of the government’s “Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking” policy.
There, they found Janrija Saisaeng welcoming customers to the third floor, which was serving as a brothel.
Two of the girls were identified as underage, leading to the arrest of Janjira and the building owner, Thanapat Paladechanun.
Thanapat later admitted that the two 17 year-olds were employees of the bar and serviced regular customers.
They received salaries of Bt8,000 and Bt200-300 more for “entertaining” customers.
Clients paid them out of their own pockets if they took the girls out for sex, paying the bar a buy-out fee of Bt700.
The police charged Janjira and Thanapat with human trafficking and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security will assign psychiatrists to take care of the two victims.
