Valhalla raid nets 5 underage girls

PATONG: Five underage girls were detained yesterday afternoon and charged with performing improper acts in public during a raid on the Valhalla Entertainment complex on Soi Sunset. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, said he received a call from Jenjira Heepkaew, 37, who said that she worked at Valhalla as a cook’s helper. She urged the police to check Valhalla because, she said, some of the girls working there wanted to leave but had been threatened. She further alleged that some of the sex workers and go-go dancers were under the age of 18. At 5 pm yesterday, Pol Capt Ampolwat Sangreang and another officer, following up on K. Jenjira’s complaint, visited Valhalla and found three girls wearing see-through bikinis swimming in the pool at the complex. They also found two girls dancing naked on a stage in the rear of the premises, in front of customers. Capt Ampolwat arrested the purported owner, Phanom Dermburi, 32, from Nakorn Ratchasima. She was charged with employing children between the ages of 13 and 18. “We sent the five girls to the Phuket Provincial Public Welfare Department so that they will be looked after. Phanom will be sent to court for trial,” said Col Paween. He added, however, “Everyone knows that the real owner of the place is a foreigner, so we will be investigating further. “We are not sure how many places in Patong employ children, in beer bars or as sex workers. We think maybe there are about 100 of them. Sometimes these places are difficult to find. “We have received many complaints about places employing children, so I have ordered my officers to check them. I have also complained to my officers about the fact that they let these things happen.”