Local politicians accused in sex ring ‘may have claimed to be governor’

This new information might help clear the name of Mae Hong Son ex-governor Suebsak Iamwichan who was accused of being a customer of the child-sex and was transferred to an inactive post pending the result of an investigation. The victims positively identified the five unnamed local politicians from the Tambon Ban Mai Administrative Organisation in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district as customers who bought sex on September 22 last year. Police also have confiscated money transaction slips that show the accused politicians wired money to the bank account of a person in the ring, who police kept as witness, as payment for the girls’ services, a source at the Provincial Police Region 5 said. As well as the Tambon Ban Mai politicians, police say they will soon summon some Mae Hong Son provincial administrative organisation members in Pai district, the source added. Earlier yesterday, Wasu Phan-ngern, president of the Tambon Ban Mai Administrative Organisation in Nonthaburi’s Bang Yai district, insisted that nothing illegal happened during his group’s field trip to Mae Hong Son last September. He threatened to sue the Provincial Police Region 5 for summoning him and fellow politicians as part of the probe into the forced prostitution ring, as such action had severely tarnished his reputation and that of his fellow tambon politicians. Police quizzed the Nonthaburi officials about their stay at a resort in the northern province that was known to be used for prostitution involving girls under 18. Wasu claimed there had been a “big party” at the resort on the night of September 22, “possibly a provincial-level event”, but police had not investigated what was involved or who attended. Claiming to possess video of official state vehicles parked outside the party venue, Wasu urged the Royal Thai Police to discipline the five local investigating officers for neglecting to investigate the nature of the gathering.