Bid to check Thai illegal activities
Thai officials say they are aware that a number of their nationals are conning fellow citizens into coming to Bahrain and later forcing them into prostitution.
They organised themselves this year in an attempt to crack down on illegal activities like prostitution in Bahrain.
“We are aware of the number of illicit activities that take place here in the Kingdom. It is hard to point fingers or throw baseless accusations at this point because we do not hold any form of evidence to convict the perpetrators of the crimes. We do know that there are Thais who have established local contacts to help them ‘recruit’ young women from Thailand with the prospect of high paying jobs but end up in the flesh trade. This, for us is very unfortunate indeed, our own people conning their fellow Thais,” said the Thai Ambassador, Pitak Phiombubpsa.
Bid to check Thai illegal activities
Thai officials say they are aware that a number of their nationals are conning fellow citizens into coming to Bahrain and later forcing them into prostitution.
They organised themselves this year in an attempt to crack down on illegal activities like prostitution in Bahrain.
“We are aware of the number of illicit activities that take place here in the Kingdom. It is hard to point fingers or throw baseless accusations at this point because we do not hold any form of evidence to convict the perpetrators of the crimes. We do know that there are Thais who have established local contacts to help them ‘recruit’ young women from Thailand with the prospect of high paying jobs but end up in the flesh trade. This, for us is very unfortunate indeed, our own people conning their fellow Thais,” said the Thai Ambassador, Pitak Phiombubpsa.
“Poverty and their hopeless situation back in their hometowns drive some of them to do virtually anything to earn money. There are some, however, who are unaware of the operations and are lured in by paid recruiters with the prospect of jobs here. The visa on arrival for many Thais has encouraged many to take irreversible risks to come here. When they land in trouble, they ask us for help but it is not that easy,” he said.
“Like we mentioned before, we are striving to work closely with local authorities to help combat the situation. I am afraid that without local support our efforts would not succeed; we are just thankful to all the concerned agencies who are cooperating,” he said.
According to the Royal Thai Embassy records, there are 4,000 legal Thai residents in Bahrain but they believe many more continue to live here as illegal aliens.
Article from: Bahrain Tribune Newspaper- www.BahrainTribune.com
