Thai woman accused of forcing daughter to trade sex for Yaba

A 22 year old woman from the Isaan province of Buriram sought help from the director of the Opportunity Foundation, accusing her mother of forcing her to have sex with drug dealers to obtain methamphetamine, also known as Yaba.

Opportunity Foundation Director Warut Khamkanake accompanied the 22 year old woman, known as A, to Mueang Buriram Police Station to file a complaint against her mother, 44 year old Kanlaya.

Warut told police that A had lived at the foundation since she was 12 years old and left to live with her mother when she was 19. A had four other siblings, all of whom lived at the foundation. A entered the foundation when she was 12 years old after being raped by her biological father.

According to Warut, A returned to the foundation on June 4 to seek help from him saying Kanlaya forced her to have sex with a drug dealer more than 10 times to get Yaba.

A policewoman searched A for signs of sexual assault and found semen on her, so she was taken to a hospital for a thorough examination.

Police then visited a rented house in the Pakham district of Buriram province to question A’s mother. Kanlaya insisted that she had never forced her daughter to trade sex for Yaba but admitted to using the drug.

Kanlaya said she suspected the owner of the rented house of raping her daughter. Kanlaya explained that she and her daughter did not live in the rented house but lived in front of it because they could not pay the rent. She was waiting for her new husband to give her money to pay the rent.

As a result, she and her daughter had to use the owner’s bathroom. She suspected that the owner was using this as an opportunity to rape her daughter. The owner also used to give her daughter 400 baht for sex. She tried to stop this but to no avail.

Kanlaya added that her daughter, who suffers from a mental illness, had disappeared from home several times.

A neighbour confirmed Kanlaya’s innocence, stating that she had never witnessed Kanlaya abusing her daughter and had always seen her searching for her when she went missing.

The police have not yet closed the case and have not disclosed the next steps in the investigation.