Patcharapol Panrak
Police say five Thais arrested last month for
allegedly forcing 11 teen boys to dress as monks to beg for money are
behind a human-trafficking ring that could have as many as 100 other
children working in provinces around Thailand.
Suphanburi loan shark
Boonnipa Sripiengchan are four accomplices have been arrested and
charged with several human trafficking offenses.
Alleged Suphanburi loan shark Boonnipa Sripiengchan,
48, and four central and northeast Thailand men were arrested Feb. 21
after police and social welfare groups raided Sattahip’s P.P. Hotel
where they had rented 8 rooms for themselves and 11 boys ages 12-17. The
heads of all the boys had been shaved and police recovered monks robes
and alms bowls, as well as two megaphones, a donation box and 11,460
baht in cash.
The raid came after parents of the Suphanburi boys
called police saying Boonnipa, to whom they all owed money, had abducted
their children and pressed them into forced labor, masquerading as monks
to beg for money for construction of the Nongfai Laokhwan temple in
Kanchanaburi. Parents said Boonnipa had lied to them, saying she would
forgive their debts by finding jobs for the boys and having some
ordained as monks. None ever were.
Police have issued a
warrant for the arrest of suspected gang member, Thawat Boonkhum, 42.
Instead, police allege, the woman hired Suphanburi
neighbors Thongchai Sripiengjan, 20; Jaroon Onnyaem, 54; and Niratsai
Srisupol, 29; along with Yasothorn native Phanan Dijit, 29, to work as
guards and drivers for the boys, taking them to markets in Sattahip,
Pattaya, Sriracha, Chonburi and Bangkok. Each of the youngsters was
required to collect no less than 10,000 baht per day. If they didn’t,
police allege, the guards beat them.
A subsequent urine test also found that the boys
claims that they’d been forced to take drugs was true. Eight tested
positive for methamphetamine use and other three said they also had
drugs forced upon them, although their urine was clean.
The teens were transferred to the Pakret Home for
Boys in Nonthaburi before being reunited with parents.
The heads of all the boys
had been shaved and police recovered monks robes and alms bowls, as well
as two megaphones, a donation box and 11,460 baht in cash.
Boonnipa, Thongchai, Jaroon and Phanan, captured at
the hotel, along with Niratsai, apprehended when he went to visit his
alleged cohorts in jail, were charged with human trafficking,
imprisonment, forced child labor, separating minors from their parents,
assault, employing underage children in dangerous occupations, and
encouraging drug use in minors.
Thawat Boonkhum, 42, another suspected gang member,
fled the room before the officers arrived. A warrant has been issued for
his arrest.
Police said they believe the arrests cut the head off
a larger child human trafficking ring that could have 10 times as many
children working as beggars throughout Thailand.