Sarawan and Kongsamrej
Keywords
Procedural Information
Public prosecutors filed against the defendants criminal charges of exploitation of prostitution of others, and trafficking in persons across borders, committed by the defendants as part of organized criminal groups – according to sections 283, 312, 312(2) and 318 of the Penal Code, sections 6, 9 and 10 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act B.E. 2551 (2008), and sections 9, 11 and 12 of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996).
The two defendants pleaded guilty.
Victims / Plaintiffs in the first instance
Defendants / Respondents in the first instance
Fact Summary
The two defendants and another six, still fleeing, accomplices operated a brothel under the disguise of a karaoke bar, where minors under 15 years of age and minors between 15 – 18 years of age were forced into prostitution.
Between April 2011 and October 2011, these victims were lured away from their parents in Laos, as they were told that there were jobs available at a restaurant in Thailand. The Lao trafficker then took the minors to the immigration authority in Laos to apply for passports by using the falsified personal data concerning the age that they were over 18 years old. Right after their arrival in Thailand, they were brought to the karaoke bar cum brothel run by the two defendants in Su Ngai Kolok District, Naratiwat Province, Thailand.
During their stay in the karaoke bar, they were under strict control and their passports were taken away. All the victims were told that they owed the defendants and their accomplices 40,000 Baht each (app. USD 1,340). In order to pay off this debt, the victims were forced to work as prostitutes in this karaoke bar.
One of the victims secretly informed her mother of her situation using a mobile phone of one of her clients and asked her mother to seek help in rescuing her and her friends. Her mother passed on this information to law enforcement officers. On 14 December 2011, law enforcement officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and staff of Women Foundation of Thailand raided the brothel and successfully rescued 40 Lao women from karaoke bar. However, only 20 of them were identified as trafficking victims and received assistance at the Srisurat Shelter House for trafficking victims of the MSDHS (Ministry of Social Development and Human Security).
The youngest victim rescued from the karaoke bar was 12 years of age and the oldest was 20 years of age.
Charges / Claims / Decisions
Section 9, 11 and 12 of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996)
Section 6, 9 and 10 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act B.E. 2551 (2008)
Section 283 of the Penal Code
Section 318 of the Penal Code
The two offenders pleaded guilty to all the charges. There were twenty persons identified as victims of trafficking in this case. Only four of the twenty victims were willing to stay and cooperated with law enforcement in giving testimonies in the Court. The other sixteen victims did not want to stay for the trial and wanted to go back home. Therefore, they had been repatriated back home to Laos before the trial of this case started. However, the Court considered the statements of the sixteen victims as part of the evidence in this case.
Section 9, 11 and 12 of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996)
Section 6, 9 and 10 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act B.E. 2551 (2008)
Section 283 of the Penal Code
Section 318 of the Penal Code
The two offenders pleaded guilty to all the charges. There were twenty persons identified as victims of trafficking in this case. Only four of the twenty victims were willing to stay and cooperated with law enforcement in giving testimonies in the Court. The other sixteen victims did not want to stay for the trial and wanted to go back home. Therefore, they had been repatriated back home to Laos before the trial of this case started. However, the Court considered the statements of the sixteen victims as part of the evidence in this case.