Workers
from Soho Bar on Soi 6 are brought
to the police station for questioning.
Boonlua Chatree
Regional and national police this month staged two of
their periodic raids of Soi 6 bars, shaking up “business as usual” - if only
for the night - on a soi where Pattaya authorities long have tolerated the
offenses charged by national police.
Region 2 crime suppression investigators on Oct. 7 raided
the Mandarin Club and national anti-human trafficking officers did the same
at the Soho Bar three nights later. In both cases, the brothels were open
again for business the next day.
About 10 Chonburi-based police rang up Mandarin, which
fancies itself a Walking Street-style go-go bar, for nude shows and offering
plushy rooms upstairs for extracurricular activities. Owner Uthaiwan
Kliguart, 31, and 16 employees between the ages of 20 and 37 were detained
and incriminating condoms and lubricating gel were seized.
Human trafficking officers likewise charged Soho Bar
owner Pornsawan Iammala, 33, with operating illegal rooms upstairs. She and
seven employees ages 18-32 were arrested and charged with
prostitution-related offenses.
In both cases, the busts were made possible by the use of
foreign informants who entered the bar to procure the upstairs services of a
staff member, then telephoned police once the marked bills were exchanged.
Bangkok police raids are nothing new to Soi 6 bar owners,
who experience the “crackdowns” about twice a year. It disrupts the usual
flow of business, but, as the quick reopening of both bars shows, not for
long.
