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Woman arrested for alleged abuse of Cambodian kids
National
Oct 25. 2019
By The Nation
Thai Immigration police have arrested a female member of a suspected human trafficking gang that is accused of forcing Cambodian children aged 13 to 16 to peddle flowers and sunglasses on Patong beach in Phuket.

The children faced punishment if they failed to achieve Bt2,000 in daily sales, Immigration Police deputy chief Pornchai Kandee said on Friday (October 25).

Cambodian national Kimhang, 24, was taken into custody on October 20 and charged with human trafficking and illegal confinement of the children.

Police learned that there were four persons in the gang.

Kimhang would drive the kids to the beach at 8am and then take them back to a rented house at 9pm. They would be beaten with a clothes hanger if their daily sales fell below Bt2,000.

In January 2018, the mother of two Cambodian children abused by the gang had lodged a complaint with the police.

Following investigations, police arrested Kimhang who was still hiding in Thailand. Police are looking for the other members of the gang.
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30377737

Cambodian woman arrested for trafficking, beating boys in Patong
PHUKET: A Cambodian woman has been arrested for operating a human-trafficking ring in Patong, using young boys to sell flowers at night and sunglasses along Patong Beach during the day, the Immigration Bureau has announced.
By The Phuket News
Friday 25 October 2019, 05:38PM
The arrest was announced by Immigration Bureau Deputy Commander Maj Gen Pornchai Khuntee at a press conference in Bangkok today (Oct 25) with a host of high-ranking Immigration officials present.

The 24-year-old woman, who Immigration today named only as “Ms Kimhang”, was arrested at the Sa Kaew border crossing to Cambodia at 2:30pm on Oct 20, said Gen Pornchai.

She was wanted on arrest warrant No. 98/ 2019 issued by the Phuket Provincial Court April 18, he said.

Kimhang has been charged with trafficking youths under 15 years old, causing bodily harm, and hiring youths under 15 years of age as employees.

Ms Kimhang was one of four people wanted human trafficking in Patong, Gen Pornchai said.

The four tricked Cambodian boys 13 to 16 years old to sell flowers and sunglasses in Patong. Kimhang was responsible for picking up the boys at different places in Patong and keeping lookout for police, he said.

The boys worked from 8am to 9pm every day and were kept at a rented house on Rath-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd in Patong. If the boys could make the target of about B2,000-3,000 per day, they would be beaten with a clothes hanger, he added.

In January last year, two mothers of trafficked boys came to Patong and informed Phuket Immigration officers of the operation, Gen Pornchai explained.

“Those four traffickers fled, and so immigration officers filed a request to Phuket Provincial Court for an arrest warrant.

“As a result of their investigation, police knew that Ms Kimhang was still staying in Thailand and she later tried to flee the country through the Sa Kaew checkpoint,” Gen Pornchai said.

“Phuket Immigration officers informed Sa Kaew Immigration to arrest Ms Kimhang and send her to Patong Police Station for prosecution,” Gen Pornchai added.

Immigration officers are continuing to search for the other three suspects, he said.
https://www.thephuketnews.com/cambodian ... -73372.php

3 more Cambodians arrested as part of Phuket human trafficking ring
Jack Burton

Published 2 days ago on 01-05-2020
2 Cambodian women and 1 man have been arrested in Phuket’s Patong municipality as part of a human trafficking ring where children were routinely beaten with wire hangers if they failed to meet their 3000 baht per day quota selling floral garlands.

The arrests of 27 year old Chanta, 32 year old Lia and 32 year old Kaew (the man), were announced by the Immigration Deputy Chief at a media briefing in Bangkok this week.

Deputy Chief Aroon Saengchan explained that the arrests follow the raids in Patong on Feb 22 that saw 17 children rescued from the gang and placed in protective custody.

In those raids, 33 year old Ngo Sun, 33, whose nationality was not disclosed, and Thai national Suphattra Charoensuk, aged 22, originally from Koh Samui, were arrested for their involvement in the gang.

Not reported at the time was that in those raids, officers also arrested five Cambodians, Soi Phra Baramee 1 in Patong. All five were charged with illegally staying in the Kingdom.

Officers also found a group of Cambodian children in the house and placed them under protective custody, Col Aroon added.

Further investigation confirmed that Chanta, Kaew, and Lia also were involved in the human-trafficking ring, according to Aroon.

Officers got a warrant of arrest for the three Cambodians and “Officers eventually arrested the three on Apr 20.”

Aroon did not give any further details of the arrests.
Thaiger/SOURCE: The Phuket News