Eight teenage Lao girls were rescued from prostitution by law enforcement officers during a crackdown on the sex trade in Nong Khai's Muang district yesterday.
A combined force from the Department of Special Investigation, army, police, Immigration Bureau and the provincial Office of Social Development and Human Security raided a karaoke bar, a massage shop and a nearby rented room in Don Mon community in Muang municipality, rescuing six girls during the operation.
Accounts containing earnings of each girl and payments to several agencies were allegedly found in Mr Suchart's car. Similar accounts of the girls' payments were also found in Petty Officer 1st Class Sajja's vehicle and the massage shop, officers said. Meanwhile, authorities also rescued two other girls, aged 15 and 16, during a search of a three-storey house on Prajak Road in tambon Nai Muang of Muang district on a tip-off that the location was involved in the sex trade.
They also arrested Apai Kammuangkoon, 66, Thirayut Yodthaisong, 46, and Ngeun Pongboonma, the year-old Lao wife of Thirayut, for allegedly procuring underage girls for prostitution.
Three Lao women, aged , and a year-old Thai female found at the house were also held in custody for questioning. An undercover officer disguised as a client asked to "buy" a girl for baht, and the raid was then launched when Mr Apai allegedly received the money and brought the girl to the officer. According to officers, the year-old girl name withheld , told them she had provided sex services for two months, while another girl had worked there for a week.
