13 trafficked Laotian girls, women freed in Chumphon
A joint police and military team of 30 officers raided a karaoke business in Chumphon yesterday and rescued six underage Laotian girls and seven Laotian women who were trafficked into prostitution in the southern province.
All 13 victims are from Vientiane.
Sojirat Kuyukham, 38, who owns and manages the business, was arrested.
Acting on a tip-off, an official disguised as a customer paid Sojirat Bt1200 for sex at the business. The official went into a room with a girl and phoned the joint team.
They invoked the martial law, which has been effective since May 22, to search the shop without a warrant. The officials seized Bt39,000, condoms, a pistol and five bullets, six bank accounts, two Laotian passports and a mobile phone as evidence.
Sojirat was charged with trafficking underage girls (older than 15 but younger than 18) and the procurement of underage girls into prostitution. Police also searched a nearby house and found 15 bank accounts, six of which belonged to Sojirat, and nine other bank accounts that were in the names of well-known people in Chumphon.
