A Dutch man was arrested on human trafficking, pedophilia and immigration charges after being caught supplying underage boys to foreigners in Pattaya.
Marie Joseph Hendrikus Hyacinthus Reinards, 69, and his Thai assistant, Panya Kunlathon, 19, were caught after delivering three underage boys to a pair of foreign police informants at the Jomtien Longstay Hotel March 4, police said.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Cheta Kamolwattana, director of the Region 2 Child and Woman Protection Center, said Reinards took a commission of 1,500-2,000 baht per child. In this case, he had struck a deal with the two undercover foreigners to supply four boys for 7,000 baht. Only three were brought to the hotel, however.
Cheta added that Kunlathon was a freelance prostitute who would bring friends into the business to earn money to buy parts to modify his motorbike.
Reinards denied he was a pimp and said he was not homosexual, as he is married and has children.
Nonetheless, he was charged with human trafficking, pimping and pandering, facilitating child pornography, pedophilia, and coercing minors into prostitution.
Additionally, police said, the Dutchman was charged with residing illegally in Thailand, as he had been deported and blacklisted a year ago for overstaying his visa, but snuck back into the country.
Reinards claimed he’d flown to Cambodia and crossed the border by land in Surin by bribing a border agent 3,000 baht. He’d previously been denied entry in Sa Kaeo, Cheta said.
The three minors, who said they volunteered to work as prostitutes to fund their online gaming habit, were sent to the Chonburi Children and Family Center.
