2 Russian women arrested for providing sex services in Phuket
Police arrested two Russian women at a hotel in the Katu district of Phuket on March 4 for illegally providing sex services.
Officers from Patong Police Station investigated the illegal activities being offered by foreigners in the area. Upon discovering that these illicit sex services were being provided by Russian women, the officers proceeded to search for their contact details. Subsequently, they reached out to two Russian women via WhatsApp, posing as potential customers.
Police arranged a meeting with the two Russian women in a hotel room on the third floor of a property located on Phra Metta Road at around 10.30pm on March 4. The Russian workers demanded 13,000 baht each for their sex services and an additional 1,000 baht each for transportation.
Upon arrival, officers instructed the two foreigners to wait in the room and then deployed an undercover officer to pose as a customer. The undercover officer paid 14,000 baht in cash to each of the foreign women. At this point, the hidden officers revealed themselves and proceeded to arrest the women.
The two Russian women were identified as 18 year old Anna Britousova and 23 year old Olga Puchkova. According to the police, the two had already prepared themselves for sex. They stripped down to only their underwear while a box containing three condoms was found on the bed.
The Russian nationals were charged under Section 6 of the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution: illegally seeking benefit from prostitution. The penalty is imprisonment of up to one month, a fine of up to 1,000 baht, or both.
In a related report, a Thai transwoman recently told PPTV HD that there were many foreign sex workers in the Sukhumvit neighbourhood in Bangkok including Filipinos, Vietnamese and Russians. She claimed there were few Russian and Vietnamese ladyboys compared to the Filipino nationals.
She explained that Filipino and Vietnamese sex workers, like Thai sex workers, waited for customers by the roadside, while most Russian sex workers offered their services in entertainment venues.
The Thai ladyboy was confident that the police knew about the presence of the foreign sex workers but ignored them. She added that it was not fair as the police only arrested and fined Thai sex workers.