Vietnamese women arrested for prostitution on Sukhumvit Rd

Authorities have arrested seven Vietnamese women on charges of soliciting prostitution in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok and are preparing to deport them.

The women, aged between 22 and 41, were apprehended on a stretch of Sukhumvit Road between Soi 4, also known as Soi Nana, and Soi 11 at around 8pm on Friday, Pol Col Yingyot Suwanno, chief of the Lumpini police station, said on Saturday.

The arrests followed complaints and reports circulating on social media that groups of foreign women were openly offering sexual services and persistently approaching passers-by, causing a public nuisance and damaging Thailand’s tourism image, he said.

Police conducted surveillance before deploying a joint team including officers from Immigration Division 1 and officials from the Department of Women’s Affairs and Family Development to make the arrests.

The women were charged with soliciting in public places for the purpose of prostitution in a manner deemed open and indecent or causing a public nuisance.

All seven were taken to the Suan Phlu immigration office for deportation proceedings. They will also be placed on the immigration blacklist, barring them from entering Thailand again.