Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHIANGMAI42
2009-03-24 11:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Chiang Mai
Cable title:  

RAIDS NET FIVE SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKERS; TWO VICTIMS

Tags:  KTIP SMIG KWMN KJUS PHUM PGOV PREL TH BM CH 
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VZCZCXRO8039
PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0042 0831126
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 241126Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1004
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0037
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0074
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1086
UNCLAS CHIANG MAI 000042 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP SMIG KWMN KJUS PHUM PGOV PREL TH BM CH
SUBJECT: RAIDS NET FIVE SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKERS; TWO VICTIMS
RECEIVING ASSISTANCE

REF: 08 Chiang Mai 126 (Putting the TIP Law to its First Test)

Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly.

------------------------------------
Summary and Comment
------------------------------------

UNCLAS CHIANG MAI 000042

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP SMIG KWMN KJUS PHUM PGOV PREL TH BM CH
SUBJECT: RAIDS NET FIVE SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKERS; TWO VICTIMS
RECEIVING ASSISTANCE

REF: 08 Chiang Mai 126 (Putting the TIP Law to its First Test)

Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly.

--------------
Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (SBU) Coordinated raids at two Chiang Mai karaoke bars on
February 18 led to the arrest of five suspected traffickers and
the rescue of two victims -- minors who were allegedly forced
into prostitution. The suspects remain in custody while the
police collect evidence and assemble witnesses. The two
victims, both of whom are Chinese nationals, are at a Thai
Government shelter in Bangkok. If convicted, the suspects could
face both lengthy prison terms and hefty fines. Coordinated
raids like this one and the one reported in Reftel demonstrate
that local and provincial authorities can successfully work with
the central Thai Government to prosecute traffickers and protect
victims, despite endemic police corruption. End Summary and
Comment.

-------------- --------------
A Stroke of Luck Leads to Raids and Arrests
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) According to press reports, the two victims in this
case escaped from the Chiang Mai karaoke bar in which they had
been forced to work as prostitutes on February 14, and made
contact with the Thai Tourist Police. The police gave them
temporary protection, and during preliminary questioning,
determined that they were 17 and 18 years old. By February 18,
the police had collected sufficient evidence and secured arrest
warrants for the five traffickers involved -- the two Chinese
nationals who brought the victims from Kunming, China to
Thailand, and the three Thai owners of the karaoke bars in which
the girls were sexually exploited. Contacts at TRAFCORD, which
serves as a coordination body between the Royal Thai Government
(RTG) and provincial/local authorities, told us that all five
traffickers were apprehended (two at their residence in Chiang
Mai, and the other three at their respective karaoke
establishments) on February 18, and that searches of the two
bars did not turn up additional victims. The operation was
jointly carried out by TRAFCORD, the Chiang Mai Tourist Police,
Chiang Mai's Provincial Center to Prevent and Suppress
Trafficking, and the Royal Thai Police's Children, Juvenile, and
Women Division (CWD),a special unit that deals with crimes
against children and women.

-------------- --------------
The Protection and Prosecution Angles
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) According to TRAFCORD, both victims are currently
residing at an RTG shelter in Bangkok awaiting interrogation in
preparation for the trials of the five trafficking suspects.
Meanwhile, Thai authorities are working with TRAFCORD to locate
the victim's families in Kunming, and determine the suitability
of the situation there for their possible repatriation to China.
As for the traffickers, all face charges under Thailand's 2008
TIP law and criminal code, and could be imprisoned for life if
convicted on all counts under both statutes for trafficking and
procuring sex for minors. They also face maximum fines of
$4,570 each. Currently, their cases remain under investigation
with the CWD.

-------------- --------------
Coerced from China to Thailand Via Burma
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) According to the victims' statements, the ordeal
leading to their escape was long and painful. It began in
February 2008 when they were 16 and 17 years old. They were
coerced by two Chinese nationals with whom they were
well-acquainted to accompany them to the Thai-Burma border town
of Tachilek, where the would-be traffickers were to receive some
$28,500 from an unidentified man. From there, they were taken
to Chiang Mai and sold into prostitution. After eight months
apart, the two victims were reunited and forced to work as
prostitutes at one karaoke bar, where they remained until their
February 2009 escape.


5. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Bangkok.

MORROW