Fearing Military Pattaya Aims To Eradicate All Prostitution

[pdogg]

I would imagine that all prostitution means all street prostitution as we all know that bargirls do not trade sex for money.   

 

They are specifically targeting Coconut Bar Ladyboys in an attempt to shed the Sodom By The Sea image.

 

The times they are a changing. 

 

 

Pol Col Suppatee Boonkrong, deputy commander of Chon Buri Provincial Police, who took over as acting head of Pattaya City Police on June 3 in the wake of the coup, said he was aiming to eradicate all prostitution.

“I want to completely change the image of Pattaya from being sin city to a friendly town that everyone can enjoy,” Pol Col Suppatee told the Bangkok Post Sunday. “Safety is our number one concern and that is what we are trying to bring back to the town.”

Pol Col Suppatee said reports of thefts had fallen since special patrols began arresting 20-30 bag-snatchers and thieves a night.

He conceded that there weren’t enough police officers to tackle street prostitution so they were being assisted by police volunteers in night-time sweeps. Typically, they were sending out groups of two to four police accompanied by four to eight volunteers in vans and trucks. The volunteers have no arrest powers, but can help compile evidence by taking videos, Pol Col Suppattee said.

“I told [the police officers] that the number [of arrests] this year has to be more than last year,” said Pol Col Suppatee, adding he was aiming to totally eradicate street prostitution.  "This is my version of returning happiness to Pattaya town.”

Thitiyanun “Doi” Nakpor, the manager of Sisters, a health counselling centre for transgenders, said police were targeting ladyboy sex workers whom she had visited in custody. She claimed a police officer told her that they had been set an arrest target of 100 sex workers a night.

“We are arresting anyone for whom we have evidence of trying to trade sex for money,” he said. "Ladyboys happen to be the majority of people we arrest.”:

“Pattaya City deputy mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said they were trying to “keep things under control to prevent the National Council for Peace and Order taking over the situation as they did in Phuket and Hua Hin”.

Chief on the list was stopping beach chair and umbrella renters breaching rules on their allocated space of 7m by 7m, operating outside the designated hours of 7am to 6.30pm, and cooking on the beach, which is prohibited. They were also asked to remove chairs and umbrellas from the beach outside of the operating hours.

Mr Ronakit said since laws regulating the beaches came into effect in 2000 the situation had swung out of control.

“There are now 216 operators on Pattaya beach and 467 operators on Jomtien beach. None of them strictly follows our rules,” Mr Ronakit said.

The deputy mayor said he had sent out inspection teams to measure the deckchair plots and warn the operators along the 2.7km of beach in Pattaya.

However, the operators have reacted furiously at the officials and only the threat of the military coming in has had some impact.

“I told the teams to explain to the operators that if they don’t follow the rules from the town council, the NCPO will come in to take care of the problem,” Mr Ronakit said.

Dum, a beach chair operator in front of a large shopping mall, said he was tidying up his plot and strictly following the regulations.

“I am scared the NCPO will come and clean up the beach like they did to Phuket and Hua Hin. I have no back-up plan, this is the only career I have.”

 

http://www.thephuketnews.com/fearing-military-pattaya-rushes-to-eradicate-sin-48483.php

[Torurot]

So where do the military go for their fun?

[Guest JustSumGai]

no where WE can see.

This is old news really as it was sensibly posited that Sensations was a good spot for the future when no doubt they would push the naughty area well away from the beach. 

[globetrotter]

I'd really hate if they messed with the late night Coconut bar action in all its sleaze and glory , a rush that is truly hard to match

[natso]

In agreement with Pdogg this will likely just be the streetwalking freelancers. Whom, to be honest it's best to stay away from in any case. 

I am in bkk and the only real changes here are the limitation to some places that used to be open late closing early - like Country Road in Cowboy being required to close at 2 rather than 4 - though this has happened on numerous occasions since i've been here over the last 17 years. All the late night discos still operate as they have all paid off whomever they need to pay off. I would be astounded if the 'pattaya mafia' owned bars were closed by the army!

[Guest sustra2]

finally we have someone defending us from street hookers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pdogg]

I'd really hate if they messed with the late night Coconut bar action in all its sleaze and glory , a rush that is truly hard to match

They are cracking down on the Coconut Bar Ladyboy Gang.

 

 

Pattaya police have cracked down on gangs of lady boys who hang around walking street. They were all taken to the police station where their ID was recorded before being fined 200 THB and released.

PATTAYA – August 31, 2014 [Pattaya Daily News]; at 00.10 am Pol.Capt.Netithorn Rattanasuchanan-deputy investigation inspector- had led a team of police officers and volunteer police to crack down on lady boy gangs who prostituted around Walking Street, South Pattaya and Pattaya beach.

 

The police officers aimed to clamp down on crime and drugs in Pattaya especially the lady boy gang that are always prostituting and stealing from foreigners. This behaviour had destroyed the good image of Pattaya therefore the police officers had to crack down on them.

 

The police officers caught 20 lady boys and took them to police station, recorded their information, and fined them 200 baht for each before letting them go. Plus the officers had detained a group of 5 lady boys and Thai girls who were suspects in case of snatching a wallet on a baht bus. However the police officers will contact the foreign victim so the snatchers can be identified.

 

 

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/pattaya-news/lady-boy-gangs-rounded-walking-street-pattaya/

[Trenton42]

My guess is the police are just trying to make a show so the military will think Pattaya is under control.

 

Recently Pattaya has received a lot of bad press in the local news due to jet ski scams and that LB going after a tourist with her stiletto.

 

General Prayuth seems to be pro-tourist, and it could be that if he takes a special interest in Pattaya,the police are thinking it will upset the income stream for many a BIB.

[globetrotter]

he said it "had destroyed the good image of Pattaya", has he ever even been there?

[Luung]

I'd really hate if they messed with the late night Coconut bar action in all its sleaze and glory , a rush that is truly hard to match

I'm with you globtrotter!.. This is an utter death knell for the Payttaya scene, because as far as I'm concerned the edginess of the Coconut bar's about the only thing that the place as got going for it nowdays... Or at least it was.

 

Fuck, dam, blast!

 

 

 

My guess is the police are just trying to make a show so the military will think Pattaya is under control.

 

Recently Pattaya has received a lot of bad press in the local news due to jet ski scams and that LB going after a tourist with her stiletto.

 

General Prayuth seems to be pro-tourist, and it could be that if he takes a special interest in Pattaya,the police are thinking it will upset the income stream for many a BIB.

 

Well yeah I agree, but there was absolutely no mention of the jet ski operators (No1 on the tourist's hate list) & Cherry walked with a 500 baht fine & is now posing for pictures with the offending shoe, when she should be locked up in the monkey house and getting beaten up and bum fucked against her will by crazies... It's sickening.

 

As per usual the BIB come down way too hard with a badly thought out & knee jerky reaction

[rxpharm]

There was an article in the Bangkok Post that Phuket Jetski operators now have to register and display signs that they are so. If any of these operators violate the rules, they will be face a substantial fine and lose their operator permit. In addition they would be distributed around the various beaches so that there would be enough business for all. There will be a crackdown on non-registered operators, as well as educating tourists about what to expect from the registered ones.

 

I think there is an underlying motive in Pattaya, in that the property the bars are on are wanted by developers. In Phuket something similar went on a few years ago, trying to move the nightlife off Bangla Road to an area further away. There was no concerted effort to shut down the bars and the night clubs in Phuket - but to remove the freelancers (both lbs and ggs).

[Trenton42]

Yeah, although it wasn't mentioned in the article above, last week General Prayuth actually mentioned the jetski operators in one of his nightly speeches, and talked about the problems they are causing for Thailand's tourism.

 

The Pattaya police responded by closing down "unregistered" jetski operators, and they turned one of their offices into a "mediation room."

 

IMO, a private room where the police and jetski operators can collude to rip off tourists isn't needed.  Requiring jetski operators to carry insurance, and more transparency in the police force is what's needed here!

[Trenton42]

With regard to cracking down on the freelancers:  The simple truth is that it's easy to do (and Thais do like easy), and the police don't have to worry about upsetting someone who might actually be paying protection money.

 

Additionally, It's the people loitering that cause problems.  Girls busy in their bars, not so much.

 

I still enjoy a stroll down the esplanade in the mornings, afternoons, or early evenings.  But for the last few years, it just hasn't been as much fun after midnight.

[pdogg]

 

The sex workers of Pattaya are no strangers to arrest, but a new police campaign is going after one group in particular: transgender prostitutes.

 

As the seaside city attempts to repair its salacious reputation to deter the junta from sending in the soldiers to scour its streets, many ladyboy prostitutes are describing an unprecedented enforcement effort that’s taking them out of circulation.

 

“We can’t even make a phone call to ask someone to help us out,” a sex worker named Gam told the Bangkok Post. “By the time we get out, we can’t work anymore.”

 

The police typically release them immediately after they pay a small fine running from THB100 to 500, but now Gam said, they’re not being released until the morning.

 

The nightly police raids are the first of their kind and are targeted at beachfront areas, according to Sandy, another transgender prostitute who has worked the area for three years. Authorities pay special attention to the infamously seedy Walking Street area, where prostitutes are aplenty.

 

Police are even engaging the help of foreigner snitches to pose as customers in order to identify sex workers. Arrests for solicitation can only take place when a financial transaction between the two is witnessed.

 

“They negotiate the price, and once we agree the police reveal themselves to arrest us,” said Som, a ladyboy prostitute who was recently arrested.

 

After an arrested ladyboy sought help from her, Thitiyanun “Doi” Nakpor, the manager of a health counselling centre for transgenders in Pattaya, confronted police as to why authorities seemed to be targeting only ladyboys.

 

“It is the NCPO’s policy,” the duty officer replied. “They ordered us, and we implemented the order.”

http://t.bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/09/01/transgender-prostitutes-singled-out-pattaya-law-enforcement-0

[Trenton42]

After an arrested ladyboy sought help from her, Thitiyanun “Doi” Nakpor, the manager of a health counselling centre for transgenders in Pattaya, confronted police as to why authorities seemed to be targeting only ladyboys.

 

“It is the NCPO’s policy,” the duty officer replied. “They ordered us, and we implemented the order.”

 

I suspect more prevarications from the Pattaya police department; after all, The NCPO are making great strides cleaning up Bangkok and Phuket, and haven't found it necessary to crackdown on LBs in either location. 

 

Another example of the Pattaya police' dog and pony show, IMO.

 

It's a good bet that the NCPO will be giving Pattaya some "special attention" in a few months, if this is the best the Pattaya police can do.

[Tomcat]

he said it "had destroyed the good image of Pattaya", has he ever even been there?

 

ha ha ,, exactly ,..just like its marketed as a " Beach Resort " ....ha hahhhh .. what joke.  What clown dreamt that line up

[duke007]