Police identified the woman as Wanwipa or Nattaya Watanapongsakul. She was arrested after another Thai woman, referring to herself as “Ms A,” told police on September 11 that she was held captive and forced into prostitution in the Omani capital of Muscat.
Police said Wanwipa and Vibulchai Lapakdi, a Thai man who remains at large, had opened a Thai massage parlour in Muscat and used social networking to lure Thai women to work in Oman.
Wanwipa denied the charge and claimed that she paid an amount of money for Ms A’s freedom and trip back to Thailand. She was initially charged with human trafficking and forcing others into prostitution.