Thai immigration police arrested two men in Nong Khai last week for allegedly trafficking Lao women into the country for sex trade.
The two men have been identified as 46-year-old Somsak Buakhem and 21-year-old Vacharapong Ratchaburi. They were apprehended on the suspicion of trafficking women from Laos, helping them travel across the Mekong River to Thailand’s Lei province before picking them up and dropping them off at a safe house in Nong Khai’s Tha Bo district.
The immigration police had made a request to the Nong Khai provincial court which was approved on 29 September to arrest the men for helping foreign citizens cross the border illegally and taking them to hideouts across the district to keep them from being detected by the police. Several other people were also arrested recently on similar charges. The police are continuing their investigation to find out more about the rampant human smuggling in the area. They suspect that other traffickers are still on the run.
Meanwhile, the Thai Embassy in Yangon has warned its citizens living in Myanmar on Facebook to be aware of suspicious well-paid jobs being advertised online and to not fall for scams on the internet where individuals are offered six figures monthly salaries in cities in China’s Shan state including Laogai, Muse, and Mongla.
The embassy also stated that the victims’ passports could be taken away by scammers so they cannot return to Thailand, and they will be left with no choice but to get involved in illegal businesses such as prostitution, be coerced to take drugs, and end up with debt.
