Briton has been arrested in a ‘trafficking’ raid at ‘Flirt’ bar in the seedy Thai resort of Pattaya as dozens of women are loaded into a police car
- Police raided the ‘Flirt’ bar on the area’s infamous Soi 6 road on April 5
- Images show dozens of young women being led away from the bar
A British national and a Thai woman have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in the seedy beach resort of ‘Sin City’ in Pattaya, Thailand.
Police raided the ‘Flirt’ bar on the area’s infamous Soi 6 road – lined with dozens of sex bars – next to the beach at around 9pm on April 5.
Footage from the raid shows dozens of young women being crocodile marched into a police car and taken to the local police station for questioning.
Englishman William Reece and local woman Jaranya Deeppair, 31, were detained by police chiefs. The Briton was led to the police station in what appeared to be handcuffs.
Officers said arrest warrants had been issued for the British man on April 4 on alleged conspiracy to commit human trafficking.
A Briton and a Thai woman have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in Thailand’s ‘Sin City’ Pattaya. Englishman William Reece and local woman Jaranya Deeppair, 31, were detained by police chiefs. The Briton was led to the police station in what appeared to be handcuffs (pictured)
Police raided the ‘Flirt’ bar on the area’s infamous Soi 6 road – lined with dozens of sex bars – next to the beach at around 9pm on April 5. Pictured: Police officers are seen near the bar
The charges concern young women being transported from poverty-stricken regions in the country’s rural northeast to serve tourists in the sex industry, where they are paid about 1,500 baht (35 GBP) for sex.
Police Colonel Thanapong Phothi, Superintendent of Pattaya City Police Station, said: “We made the arrest to build confidence in Pattaya’s image among tourists. We invited the store employees to give their statements at the station.”
The suspects have been remanded in custody pending further judicial proceedings.
Police said they raided the store but found no illegal substances.
The employees inside were also all over the age of 18, the legal age for working as a prostitute in the country.
The bar is believed to be owned by ‘Nightwish Group’, believed to be run by a British ex-pat.
A website connected to the group says it was founded in 2012 with a single bar and has since grown into a company employing more than 500 people and 27 bars.
Military top men from Bangkok have been trying for several years to clean up Pattaya, also called the “sex capital” of the world.
Pictured: A young woman holds up a series of photos in a photo on the bar’s Instagram page
Pictured: Police officers search the bar during the April 5 raid
Footage from the raid shows dozens of young women being crocodile marched into a police car and taken to the local police station for questioning. Pictured: A police officer addresses women in the bar during a raid on April 5
They are fighting to kick out misbehaving Brits and Aussies and turn the region into a family-friendly resort to tap into lucrative family markets in China, India and Russia.
However, they face an uphill battle against the entrenched 24-hour sex industry and the endemic corruption that allows it to continue unabated.
The bars – many of which are run by British expats and act as shop windows for prostitutes – along with massage parlors and street workers are also a lucrative part of the tourist industry.
Before the pandemic, the industry accounted for 21 percent of Thailand’s annual GDP, generating 1.8 trillion baht ($52.3 billion) in revenue.