Police have arrested an American man and his Thai wife, who are accused of running a huge prostitution website for foreign customers. According to a Phuket Express report, the authorities describe it as the largest such site in Thailand, ranking first on Google and racking up 430,000 visits a month.
Laws regarding prostitution are not clear but the illegality of soliciting sex services certainly is.
The authorities confirmed the arrest of the couple on Friday, August 18, with the deputy chief of the Immigration Bureau, saying their website catered “specifically to foreign clientele”, with 80 prostitutes covering Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hua Hin.
Police first began to investigate the site after multiple reports of customers being robbed by prostitutes working for the website. It’s understood the website remains online, with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society attempting to have it taken down.
According to the report, on August 13, at around 5.00am, police arrested a 34 year old Thai woman, allegedly the administrator of the site, named only as Ms Kanya. She was arrested just after disembarking an international flight at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Following Ms Kanya’s arrest, police raided a luxury villa in Hua Hin, arresting a 48 year old American man, named only as Mr Brad, and understood to be Ms Kanya’s husband.
Arresting officers also confiscated a pool villa, valued at around 15 million baht, a Mercedes car valued at 3.5 million baht, a Honda vehicle valued at 1.8 million baht, four computers, and 9 million baht spread across various bank accounts. In total, the seized assets are valued at more than 40 million baht.
According to Panthana, Ms Kanya is accused of setting up appointments between prostitutes and customers, for which she’d receive around 40% in commission. Police suspect there are others involved with the prostitution ring.
Ms Kanya and Mr Brad have been charged with prostitution offences, including providing prostitution services, procuring, enticing, or coercing individuals for indecent purposes, regardless of consent, and aiding, facilitating and safeguarding prostitution by others.
SOURCE: The Phuket Express
