Thai police arrest Discord group for underage erotic livestreaming

Thai police arrested a group of individuals running a Discord group with hundreds of thousands of followers, accused of luring a 15 year old girl into livestreaming indecent content and charging members for access.

Today, July 25, the police, under the command of Police Major General Saruti Kwangsopa, and led by Police Colonel Phatthanapong Sripinproh and Police Lieutenant Colonel Woraphon Lertwirayaphong, apprehended 21 year old Phakarathorn. He was arrested under a criminal court warrant dated July 23 on charges of human trafficking involving three or more individuals, by producing or distributing pornographic material involving minors aged over 15 but under 18.

Police discovered the use of the application Discord through a group named MonatX Community, which had amassed a substantial following. This group created content by livestreaming explicit videos of underage girls engaging in provocative acts, sometimes even broadcasting sexual activities with others. Viewers were charged a fee to watch these live streams.

Police identified and interviewed the two 15 year old girls featured in the videos. They revealed that they were recruited by older members of the Discord group, who promised them extra income. The girls were instructed to use their mobile phones to stream themselves undressing and performing sexually suggestive acts for about an hour per session, in exchange for a share of the viewing fees, which ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 baht (US$30 to US$55) per session.

Subsequently, the police obtained search warrants and raided the residences of the suspects. They arrested three individuals involved in the operation. Zig, who founded and led the Discord group, managed the livestreaming system. Mo handled the scheduling of the livestreams and divided the proceeds, while Phakarathorn acted as a DJ, encouraging members to transfer money for viewing privileges, reported KhaoSod.

During the investigation, the three suspects confessed that they distributed about 40% of the earnings from each livestream to the girls involved, while the remaining amount was divided among themselves. They were then handed over to investigators at Division 2 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division for further processing.