Victoria's Secret raid shows human trafficking still rife

DSI raiders took at least 100 women out of the Victoria's Secret massage parlour on Friday in a major raid against human trafficking. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)

Last Friday's raid on Victoria's Secret Massage in Huai Khwang district by Department of Special Investigation (DSI), military and local administration officials has exposed suspected offences at the massage parlour in connection with human trafficking and prostitution, in which state officials are believed to be connected.

The Bangkok Post's King-oua Laohong talks to DSI deputy director-general Songsak Raksaksakul about the problem.

Could you assess the problems of human trafficking and prostitution in Thailand?

Thailand is Southeast Asia's economic hub, so many migrants from the Mekong River basin countries come to work here.

If they are just normal labourers, the problem is small because agencies have effective measures in place. The problematic areas are human trafficking, prostitution and forced labour, where there must be prevention and suppression.

In the past, beggars from Cambodia were brought here and we succeeded in apprehending the brokers who brought the kids (from Cambodia).

Today, the number of such offences here has fallen drastically.

As for the trading of human parts, this has never taken place in Thailand, while forced labour has dropped markedly.

As for human trafficking which concerns children being forced to become prostitutes, the number of arrests and cases has climbed.

What are the key factors increasing the number of child prostitutes?

As prostitution concerns high pay and less-labour intensive work, as opposed to other forms of labour, people secretly come to Thailand to do jobs linked to human trafficking, and this includes children being lured into prostitution.

The DSI has conducted raids and made arrests in border areas with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, as well as in Bangkok, and there were cases of children being lured or forced into prostitution.

Legal measures need to be enforced to deal with shops or business operators committing wrongdoings.

Have you ever assessed how much revenue prostitution generates?

At various massage venues, the service charge ranges from 2,000 to 10,000 baht, so each venue earns more than a million baht a day.

This could involve tens of billions of baht per year, particularly venues which also offer sex services.

Prison terms for those in violation of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act range from one to 10 years.

The severe punishment shows we do want this problem to end.

How did the DSI step into the Victoria's Secret Massage case?

The DSI took it up as a special case last year after an anti-human trafficking foundation told us a 12-year-old girl was lured into prostitution there.

After receiving the information, the DSI widened the probe. Over the past year, the DSI gathered evidence before seeking a warrant to search the venue. No one wanted to get involved since it concerns a huge number of people, including state officials.

However, based on the DSI's probe, there are still various places in Bangkok similar to Victoria's Secret.

Has the screening of women and children found to be victims of human trafficking and prostitution been concluded?

There is a legal process in place with health professionals determining whether the women are victims or not. As for the venue's owners, they must be prosecuted for human trafficking.

Officers have widened probes and sought seven arrest warrants for Mr Boonsap, or Pa Kob, who deals with customers. Another offence concerns sex services uncovered during Friday's raid.

As of Sunday, four females aged 18 or below were being treated as human trafficking victims. Another two were found to have been forced into prostitution. We will ask Wang Thong Lang police to transfer the case to the DSI which will treat it as a special case.

Charges will be brought against those involved.

How will you deal with police and other state officials who received discounts for massage services or got them free?

This is the police's responsibility. When there is prostitution, questions must be raised as to whether police were aware of it. As for the names, a probe must be carried out to determine whether officers received money. Some venues provide quotas (to officials), but they do not use the services. The customer relations manager will be asked to implicate them (officers).

When we questioned the list maker and customer relations manager, they did not implicate anyone, making the job difficult.

What kind of measures will the DSI adopt to prevent and tackle human trafficking?

The Justice Ministry (which is in charge of the DSI) is responsible for suppressing graft among state officials. One of the problems with human trafficking is dereliction of duty by officials. If there is a move to prevent them getting involved in trafficking, the problem could decline.

Additionally, efforts must be made to show the importance of why human trafficking must be tackled. Trafficking is linked to the livelihoods of people in neighbouring countries. These people have low incomes and they want to seek more money by coming to work here or offering sex services illegally.

Has the DSI sought cooperation with neighbouring countries to prevent the problem?

The DSI has attended meetings with representatives from neighbouring countries in the Mekong River basin.

We have sought cooperation with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to lay out guidelines to jointly prevent human trafficking and all the countries understand Thailand.

Cooperation has taken place and is ongoing to prevent and suppress the problem through information exchange, which has so far led to people involved in human trafficking networks being arrested.