5 Charged In NYC Brothel Case

Associated Press. 4 January, 1995

NEW YORK (AP) -- Five Thai nationals were charged in U.S. District Court on Wednesday with conspiring to smuggle women from Thailand into the United States and forcing them to work as prostitutes to repay their debt to the smugglers.

The charges allege that the five induced the women to come to the United States by promising them well-paying restaurant jobs that would enable them to repay the cost of their trip.

After they arrived in the United States, they were held against their will in a New York City brothel, where they were forced to have sex with between 400 to 500 men to repay their smugglers, authorities said.

Charged Wednesday were Somchay Khounsavanh, 39, of Stamford, Conn.; Saravut Wattanasiri, 30, of New York; Somyos Kedjumnong, 41, Rocky Hill, Conn.; Thongchai Wutthidetgrainggrai, 35, of New York; and Vilawan Pajimnoht, 39, of New York. Khounsavanh is still at large.

Is there no end to the Thai prostitution problem..?? I lived in Japan for three years recently and found the import of prostitutes there to be none less than unbelievable to those not familiar with the situation.

Young girls tricked into slavery due to an insatiable desire for paid sex..

I am not fixed in my positions as of yet, but now I would say that I am not truly against prostitution per se.. The international trade in prostitutes is another ballgame.. We are not just talking about prostitution but slave labor, diseases, beatings, mind games, drugs, selling of children, faked passports and etc..

Any ideas??

Cheers
Tim
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