A STING operation mounted by Pattaya police which was assisted by 2 foreign agents led to the arrest of a Dutchman on the charges of procuring boys for foreigners, Thai News Agency reported this afternoon (March 4).
Pol Lt Gen Chetha Kamolwathana, deputy head of Region 2 Police, ordered an investigation after getting information of a foreigner procuring Thai boys for other foreigners in Pattaya.
After the police team gathered sufficient hard evidence, Pol Col Apichai Krobpetch, head of Pattaya police, and Miss Phanee Chanprungton, head of Chonburi Children and Family Home, worked out the sting operation.
Two foreign agents were given 7,000 baht and told to contact Mr.Reinards Marie Joseph, 69, to procure 4 boys. The meeting was arranged to take place at room number 312 in Jomtien Longstay Hotel, Jomtien beach, and when he showed up, police pounced and arrested him and found in his possession pornography including stills and video clips involving boys and the 7,000 baht cash given to him for the service.
Also arrested was a Thai youth, Mr Kulthorn Panya, 19, who police said had joined Joseph in arranging 3 other boys and including himself for sex.
However, Joseph denied the charges, denied running a sex business or being sexually deviant, pointing out that he had a wife and child,
Joseph told police he was blacklisted after Immigration officials in Aranyaprathet refused to let him cross over from Cambodia. However, he later managed to slip in through Chong Chom checkpoint in Surin province after paying a bribe of 3,000 baht and has been in Pattaya since then.
Records show that Joseph has been in and out Thailand many time and police said they observed that he could be involved in human trafficking and have now caught him red-handed.
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Top: The suspect with Pattaya police. Photo: Thai News Agency
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