Officials save girls under 18 from prostitution after bar raid
PHUKET: Administrative officials raided a bar on Bangla Walking Street in Kathu district on Wednesday night, arrested two women for allegedly procuring girls for visitors and saved six girls with from the illicit business.
The raid ordered by Manrat Ratanasukhon, director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration, responded to a tip from Operation Underground Railroad, an anti-human trafficking organisation of the United States.
Officials went to Velvet bar on Wednesday night to verify the complaint. There they found Thaksakorn Supa-akarapokin and Watcharaporn Thongmak. Both women were arrested and charged with the procurement and unlicensed bar operation, officials said.
Officials also found six young women aged under 18 at a nearby hotel. The girls were treated as human trafficking victims and rescued from prostitution.