thailand says chinese beggars caught in bangkok not victims of trafficking
updated 2023年11月28日 上午6:31 sgt
bangkok – six chinese nationals with severe deformities caught begging on the streets of bangkok were not victims of torture, physical abuse or coercion by human traffickers as believed earlier, thailand said on nov 27.
seven chinese men and women have been arrested for begging for money in bangkok since nov 10, after posts on social media suggested that human traffickers may be exploiting thailand’s visa waiver to bring in victims to beg on the streets.
the individuals caught exhibited facial deformities or had crippled hands or fingers.
immigration bureau chief lieutenant-general ittipol ittisarnronnachai told a press conference on nov 27 that the detainees admitted to entering thailand voluntarily, after learning begging in the capital could earn them up to 10,000 baht (s$380) a day.
lt-gen ittipol said the first person from this group to be arrested was a 41-year-old woman who went by the name kheng.
she was apprehended on nov 11 at the bts skywalk in front of the siam square shopping mall.
subsequently, a thai woman called namee, posing as her interpreter, helped get kheng out of prison before she was deported on nov 17.
on nov 18, a 34-year-old woman identified as wu was arrested by phya thai police on a pedestrian flyover in front of the platinum shopping mall on phetchaburi road.
wu revealed that she had observed beggars earning substantial amounts in major sightseeing spots in a previous visit to thailand. so, she decided to try her hand at begging, and sometimes earned up to 10,000 baht a day. she said she converted her earnings to yuan and deposited them in her wechat pay account.
following her arrest, the same interpreter delivered wu’s passport and belongings at the phaya thai police station.
in the third case, a 39-year-old woman, yuan, was detained by bang phlat police on nov 19 in front of the central pinklao shopping mall in bangkok noi district.
yuan said she and her husband awu made a living by begging on the streets in china and had previously begged in malaysia. she said they arrived in thailand earlier in 2023 and earned well from begging.
when his wife was arrested, awu tried to flee the country, but since his visa was cancelled he was nabbed at the cambodian border checkpoint in sa kaew’s aranyaprathet district.
before his attempted escape, he sent an interpreter, sorapha, to deliver yuan’s passport at the police station.
the couple remains in custody pending legal proceedings and deportation.
in the fourth case, a 28-year-old woman identified as hu was apprehended by thung maha mek police officers on nov 20 at the bts sala daeng station in bangkok’s bang rak district.
hu reportedly told police she had entered thailand independently to beg after learning it was lucrative.
in the fifth case, a 28-year-old man referred to as fan was arrested by lumpini police on nov 20 at the bts asoke station in thawi watthana district.
fan claimed he had initially arrived in thailand as a tourist, but lost his passport. while waiting for a replacement from the chinese embassy, he resorted to begging to survive.
in the sixth case, a 33-year-old man known as wang was arrested by bang rak police on nov 20.
he allegedly told the authorities that he had arrived in thailand as a tourist and stayed at a hotel in the pathumwan area. however, he said, he ran out of funds and decided to start begging on silom road.
the immigration chief noted that some of the detainees knew one other and had come together to beg.
lt-gen ittipol also said that several of the individuals had previously gone begging in singapore and malaysia.
police investigators said that the deformities and scars on the detainees’ faces and bodies had been caused by accidents in their youth.
lt-gen ittipol insisted none of them had been subjected to torture or abuse.
he also confirmed that the detainees had full control of their earnings and had not transferred money to anybody else.
as for the thai women who acted as interpreters, lt-gen ittipol said they were not associated with any criminal gangs.
he added that they had previously worked with acquaintances of the detainees, which led to them getting involved.
lt-gen ittipol added that the police are still looking for a chinese man who was reportedly seen begging in bangkok’s lat krabang area.
he also said that the chinese beggars had entered thailand using their passports, which recorded their scars and deformities, and so the injuries were not new.
separately, the immigration chief said the authorities have detained a group of beggars from jordan comprising three men, four women and 16 children.
the group had allegedly been causing disturbances and harassing foreigners in bangkok’s nana area.
their visas have been revoked and they are being held for deportation. no connection has been established between this group and the chinese beggars.
the names of the detainees and the thai women in the article are pseudonyms. the nation/asia news network
police brief the case of chinese and jordanian beggars in bangkok
november 27, 2023 3:18 pm
bangkok – pol. lt. gen. ittipol ittisarnronnachai, the commissioner of the immigration bureau, together with relevant officials, held a press conference on november 27 at the immigration bureau in mueang thong thani and summarised the investigation into foreign beggars in thailand.
the investigation revealed two groups: a group of chinese beggars in many area of bangkok and a group of jordanian beggars in the nana area.
chinese beggars group:
- mrs. keng (41 years old): arrested on 11 november near the siam square shopping centre. she was deported on 17 november.
- ms. wu (34 years old): arrested on 18 november near phetchaburi bridge. she had come to thailand to beg and exchanged the money she collected via wechat for chinese yuan.
- mrs. yuan (39 years old): arrested on 19 november near major pin klao shopping center. she and her boyfriend, mr wu, had been beggars in china and malaysia before coming to thailand.
- ms. hu (28 years old): arrested on 20 november near sala daeng bts. she came to thailand to beg, influenced by friends who informed her of the high income in this profession.
- mr. fan (28 years old): arrested on 20 november near asok bts. he came to thailand as a tourist, lost his passport and begged to survive.
- mr. wang (33 years old): arrested on 20 november on silom road. he came to thailand as a tourist but ran out of money so he begged on silom road.
pol. lt. gen. ittipol said that the chinese beggars group had not only operated in thailand but had also begged in other countries such as singapore and malaysia. each member kept the collected money in their personal wechat pay accounts and did not share or distribute it to others.
most of the physical injuries observed on the bodies of this group were from burns sustained in childhood. there were no reports of violence or damage caused by others.
as for the jordanian beggar group, the police reported that this group consisted of people of jordanian nationality living in the nana area, sukhumvit, bangkok. they gathered in front of the shopping complex at nana square and begged aggressively, sometimes with the little children, to gain the sympathy of tourists.
after a thorough check, it was discovered that they had all entered thailand on tourist visas. the authorities decided to revoke their permits to stay in the kingdom and deport them. in addition, 33 foreign beggars were arrested and blacklisted in various tourist destinations, including pattaya, chiang mai and phuket, before being sent back to their home countries.
the police pointed out that stricter control measures could be implemented in future when people enter the country. officers will pay close attention to the behavior of foreign nationals, especially during the festive season.
the case of disabled persons requires careful scrutiny and co-operation with business owners to confirm the accommodation of foreign persons with disabilities.
disfigured chinese also begged in malaysia, singapore
published : 27 nov 2023 at 15:49
an immigration officer with profiles of the six disfigured chinese beggars arrested in bangkok recently, at the immigration bureau on monday. (screenshot)
chinese beggars with facial and body disfigurations recently arrested in bangkok were not working for a thai boss and had previously solicited money in malaysia and singapore, according to the immigration bureau.pol maj gen panthana nutchanart, deputy commissioner, said on monday that some of the six beggars knew each other. they denied they were trafficked by a gang, and told police they worked for themselves and used public transport while in thailand.
he said they were aged 28-41 years and could earn more than 10,000 baht a day in tourist-crowded areas in bangkok. they had thai interpreters but there was no evidence thais gained any other benefits from their activities.
the immigration bureau had learned some of them had also begged in malaysia and singapore.
they were arrested between nov 11 and 20, and all had already been deported, he said.
the six, four women and two men, all said the scars on their faces and bodies were from burns incurred as children in china. immigration security camera footage confirmed they were already disfigured when they arrived arrived in the country.
they usually begged at footbridges and near shopping centres – especially in the asok, lumpini and silom areas. they exchanged their takings for yuan and deposited the money in their accounts, registered in china.
some of them had begged in their homeland and decided to try their luck in thailand after friends told them they could earned substantially more here.
others said they had arrived for a tour but ran out of money. one said he begged while waiting for a new chinese passport to replace the one he reported lost.
pol maj gen panthana said the bureau had recently also arrested seven jordanian adults and 16 minors at hotels on nana road, after complaints they had been pestering tourists for money, accosting them while they were shopping or withdrawing cash from atms.
all of them had arrived as tourists. they were detained pending deportation.
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