Woman arrested after decade-long human trafficking chase

Police apprehended a 62 year old woman involved in human trafficking linked to forced labour on fishing trawlers after she evaded capture for over a decade.

Sompong Sroithong was taken into custody when officers intercepted her pickup truck in the Mueang district of Samut Prakan yesterday, September 17, according to Police Major General Sarut Kwaengsopha, commander of the police Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD).

Sompong was one of five suspects listed in a warrant issued by the Criminal Court in 2012. The other suspects had already been apprehended.

The police pursuit began after a Thai-African victim lodged a complaint with the Social Development and Welfare Department in 2012. The victim reported being lured with promises of lucrative wages to work on a fishing boat.

According to police, the victim claimed that Sompong forced him into slave labour on multiple trawlers. He was ultimately thrown into the Gulf of Thailand by a skipper but was rescued by the crew of a Vietnamese cargo ship, said Pol. Maj. Gen. Sarut.

“Sompong was identified as the leader of a gang that exploited Thai men and foreigners, forcing them into slave labour on fishing vessels.”

An investigation revealed that Sompong had previously served three years in prison, although the ATPD chief did not disclose the specifics of her earlier charges, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, police have arrested a couple in Bangkok’s Pracha Chuen area on allegations of exploiting minors from Myanmar’s Shan state for forced labour. The arrests took place on September 14 when officials from the Department of Provincial Administration, alongside Pracha Chuen police officers, raided a house on Ngamwongwan Road in the Lak Si district.

The suspects, identified only as 35 year old Golf, and 33 year old A, face accusations from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) of coercing minors to work in their Mala food business, which operated from 6.30pm to 4am.