The case came to light after the girl confided in her father and stepmother on Apr 26. Four days later, her father, living in Phuket, contacted the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women, seeking legal and protective action, reports the Bangkok Post.
According to the father, he and the girl’s mother had separated years ago and never legally married. They had two daughters, aged 13 and 8, who remained with their mother. He claimed the mother routinely denied him access and made it difficult for him to see the children.
After the girl contacted her stepmother to say she no longer wanted to live with her mother and grandmother due to abuse and mistreatment, her father travelled from Phuket to pick her up in Hua Hin.
He then filed a report with Hua Hin police and informed the mother that the child would be relocating to Phuket. Initially resistant, the mother eventually relented after the girl disclosed on the phone that she had been forced into prostitution.
The girl recounted that her mother and aunt had taken her to a short-stay hotel on two occasions when she was 11. The first incident took place in August 2023, when the aunt drove her to meet the man, who later took her to a hotel. After the assault, she returned home bleeding and in pain, but her mother dismissed it as a menstrual issue.
The second incident occurred two months later. Again, the aunt escorted her to meet the same man, but the girl resisted. The man returned her to a park, where the mother was waiting. He reportedly told the mother not to bring the child again, prompting the woman to curse at her daughter.
The girl said her mother was a methamphetamine addict and had used her to pick up drugs from friends to avoid arrest. The mother also had significant informal debts requiring daily repayment.
On Apr 30, the Pavena Foundation contacted Pol Col Kampanat Na Wichai, Superintendent of Hua Hin police station, who ordered a full investigation. The girl was immediately sent for medical examination and interviewed by a multidisciplinary team.
The girl and her younger sister have since been placed under the care of the foundation. On May 19, police obtained arrest warrants for the mother and aunt on charges of human trafficking and procuring a child under 15 for sexual exploitation.
Police arrested the mother on the same day. A drug test confirmed methamphetamine use, leading to an additional charge of drug consumption.
She confessed to having arranged three meetings with the man ‒ once in a public park to introduce the girl to the man for B1,500, and twice at hotels for B2,000 and B5,000, respectively. The aunt allegedly kept all the money. The suspect was remanded in custody.
Police are now searching for the aunt and working to identify and prosecute the man who paid for sex with the child, according to the foundation.