Bangkok bust: CIB officers nab 18,000 imported sex toys, couple faces sticky situation

Officers from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) embarked on a rather titillating mission at a luxury house in Bangkok‘s Lat Krabang district yesterday where they seized 18,000 sex toys imported from China. A Chinese man and his Thai wife were arrested for illegally importing and selling sex toys.

Patthawit Wongpinit, director of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), told Channel 3 that officers discovered an online shop that was advertising sex toys on various social media platforms, claiming that the toys were massage devices.

TCSD police conducted further investigations until they discovered that the online shop had converted a three-storey house in Lat Krabang district into a warehouse for packing sex toys. Officers then raided the house yesterday and met with the owners, a 24 year old Thai woman named Piyanan and a 28 year old Chinese man named Huang.

According to the police report, the first two floors were being used as a warehouse. More than 18,000 sex toys worth over 10 million baht were found there.

The couple admitted to the crime, saying they had imported the sex toys from China and offered them to Thai customers via online channels for almost three years.

The couple face two charges, including:

Section 24(4) of the Computer Act: importing explicit information into the computer system where the public can access the information. The penalty is imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.

Section 287 of the Penal Code: Selling, offering or lending obscene products to people. The penalty is imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both.

Sex toys, sex workers and pornography are banned in Thailand due to moral controversy. Several activists and politicians have attempted to legalise it but have not made much progress in terms of the law, but have made some difference in the perception of Thai people.

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