Police say underage procurers a growing problem in burgeoning flesh trade, writes Wassayos Ngamkham. The recent arrest of a year-old girl who procured an underage girl for an Indian tourist in Pattaya highlighted the recent crackdown on prostitution and human trafficking rings whose perpetrators and victims are getting younger, according to police.
Police have vowed tough action against both procurers and customers who are increasingly resorting to Facebook and Line to match underaged victims with customers. On June 5, police nabbed a young procurer and an Indian customer in Pattaya. Three days later the investigators traced the gang north to Nakhon Sawan where they arrested a pimp and six other customers. So far, the police have pressed three charges against Parmod Kumar who allegedly paid for sex with a year-old girl.
The year-old suspect is charged with depriving the girl of her parental care and raping her. According to investigators, the year-old victim is a native of the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani. She was lured through a Facebook page by the teenage procurer who ran a sex service ring in Pattaya.
The victim was first told to stay with "other girls" at a hotel before she was sent to Mr Kumar. The victim later made an escape and returned to her home province, but the procurer went after her and demanded she return to Pattaya. She accused the victim of stealing her money, prompting the victim's family to file a police complaint which eventually led to the arrest of the procurer and the Indian customer.
Pol Maj Gen Surachate said many victims of the underage prostitution rings based in tourist cities come from the Northeast. In another underage prostitution case, police found eight young victims, including a year-old student, offering sex services in Nakhon Sawan.
