Greyman Blog

Border town of Aranyaprathet

Aranyaprathet is a fairly non-descript border crossing point from Thailand into the town of Poi Pet on the Cambodian side.  It is the busiest crossing point into Cambodia and a key transit point for human traffickers.

On the evening of 13 September 2010 in Aranyaprathet, a joint operation between The Grey Man and the Royal Thai Police resulted in the rescue of four Cambodian girls on the Thai side of the border.  The girls were 14-15 years old and had been trafficked into Thailand for prostitution.

A three person Grey Man team had set up a sting operation the previous day but it fell through when the go-between became frightened and did not bring the girls he had promised.  It had been a frustrating month for the team with a number of leads ending in dead ends.

The team then changed to another target.  They had acquired video and audio surveillance of a brothel that had under-aged girls in it and called in a specialist Thai police unit.  In this brothel the girls’ rooms were padlocked and the windows covered in bars.

Bars on the windows The doors were padlocked.

After a thorough briefing between the two groups, the Grey Man operatives then re-entered the brothel with Police nearby ready to conduct a raid. 

The operatives continued their undercover roles, and once they ensured that the girls were still there, triggered a raid by the Police.  Twenty Anti-trafficking Police and three Grey Man personnel were involved in the operation.

15 year old rescued from the brothel

The mamasan (manager of the brothel) and a number of Thai males were arrested and the four girls are now in the hands of Thai government officials.

They will be moved to a government shelter in Bangkok where they will either be repatriated to Cambodia or sent to a Khmer vocational training centre.  Grey Man is looking into how to best assist the repatriation of the girls.

I would like to thank the Thai Police unit involved for their assistance.  Our team were very impressed with the level of their professionalism and our thanks also to the government of Thailand for setting up such a great unit. 

It seems that this particular specialist police unit were also impressed with The Grey Man team and intend to run further operations with us.  

Just a final worrying statistic, 46% of Cambodian kids trafficked into Thailand when interviewed said that the key figure who facilitated their trafficking was … their mother!!  Here in the West we may never understand what poverty can drive people to do but we were born lucky and safe so don’t waste time in judging these people … please just support us to help more kids.  

To this Grey Man team, consisting of former police and special forces people, thankyou for a job well done as I know how difficult the past month has been. 

John Curtis

President

Grey Man has been quietly sending people into Cambodia for the past 6 months in order to understand the child trafficking situation there and to see which NGOs and police Grey Man could work with in Phnom Penh and other cities. We like to know what we are up against before we commit Grey Man operatives to any theatre of operations. As a final exercise we sent our Director of Operations from Australia to discuss our involvement with likely partners in Cambodia. He spent some time investigating the red light areas and liaising with local NGOs (especially International Justice Mission-IJM) and the police to determine the best way for Grey Man to operate in the country.

Last Sunday night our Director of Operations, ‘Tony’ approached a moto driver (motorcycle taxi) to discuss the possibility of accessing some young girls. The moto driver said he could supply the girls and took ‘Tony’ to a brothel in the countryside outside Phnom Penh. The results were inconclusive as the girls did not appear to be underage but with Asian girls it is often difficult to tell. ‘Tony’ declined the offer of being a client and was returned to the city. A few days later the moto driver contacted him and said he had two girls available who were young, so ‘Tony’ arranged to meet with him and immediately informed the local office of International Justice Mission (IJM) who arranged for the police to assist.

The Moto driver took ‘Tony’ to a nearby hotel where he met with a young Cambodian pimp who took ‘Tony’ to one of the hotel rooms. There were no girls visible but when the Cambodian was asked how old the girls were he opened the bathroom door and a 14 year old and ten year old (yes, 10!!) came out. They were Vietnamese girls who had been trafficked into Cambodia.

!4 and 10 year old Vietnamese girls rescued from a Cambodian pimp

A price was negotiated but ‘Tony’ said he would have to get extra cash from his hotel room. This was in order to extricate himself from the room in order to confirm to the police that the girls were actually present and that they were underage.

The Cambodian agreed and as soon as ‘Tony’ left he signalled the police and IJM.  He returned to the room on the pretext of paying the money and as per arrangements the police knocked on the door of the hotel room soon after ‘Tony’ had re-entered it. The police arrested the pimp and the moto driver. The children were taken into custody and placed with a shelter run by a British NGO.  Grey Man will fund their ongoing recovery and education and investigations are continuing to snare other traffickers.

This is our first operation in Cambodia and by all accounts a great success. It received widespread coverage in the Australian media and resulted in an overwhelming response from the Australian public. Grey Man would like to thank our Director of Operations (‘Tony’), IJM, the Cambodian Police and Grey Man supporters everywhere for allowing us to do what we do best.   What’s more with Australia Day happening the day after I can think of no greater tribute to our country on our National Day than that Australians put themselves in harm’s way to rescue kids in South East Asia.  We should all be proud. Well done!

John Curtis

Thai-Burmese border crossing at Mae Sai

We received this e-mail below from a gentleman in Mae Sai, on the Thai-Burmese border.  We met with him 6 months ago as part of increasing our intelligence network and recently it paid off.

‘Hi John

Late this afternoon we were informed by one of our children (boy aged about 10 yrs) who visits our Drop in Centre (DiC) that he has regularly been sexually abused by a man who also comes into our DiC. On making further enquires my staff inform me that this man has also abused three 3 young girls two sisters aged 9 & 12, another girl aged 7 and possibly a girl aged about 4………I do not know who I can trust in the local police as some would not deal with this situation in a professional way, therefore I do not know who to contact.  I am aware that you have trustworthly contacts and would appreciate some urgent advice……’

The children were part of the never-ending flow of children who are trafficked into begging gangs and end up homeless on the streets of Mae Sai.  Grey Man immediately put our Thai Director of Operations onto it.  Within a short space of time the children had been secured, taken to hospital to be checked, the police informed and children taken to be interviewed under the care of Grey Man personnel.  They were then taken to a shelter that we have good connections with for their protection. 

Luckily, the Burmese perpetrator was found to be in custody on another charge and we simply added rape and a variety of other charges to his sheet.  He will be sentenced very soon and will do jail time.  The children are safe and happy.  It isn’t usually as easy as this but we were very happy with the outcome.

The following recent email from the gentleman running the drop in centre says it all:

‘Dear John

Many thanks for your contribution in the recent situation, it was appreciated. I will definitely contact Grey Man should we encounter similar situations again.  The police handled the case professionally and it was in court in a record time. I would like to think that this was due to their concerns and commitment, however it is more likely because they knew your team was overseeing the operation.” 

Kind words and possibly true but we had good co-operation from the Mae Sai police and we thank them for their assistance.  They don’t always have the resources to follow up every case of abuse but they do their best.  Sometimes they just need a little help.

This was a good day.

John Curtis

In April this year Grey Man was asked to assist the Crimes Against Women and Children Division (CWD) of the Royal Thai Police in an operation in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Pattaya

Reliable information alleged that a group of foreign tourists were abusing young boys of 14-15 years of age.  Further investigation confirmed that a group of men, Swedish, English and Australian were involved. The Royal Thai Police, Nordic Police and Customs, Swedish National Crime police and Grey Man operatives began a joint investigation, codenamed Snapper.  

Joint planning for Operation Snapper

As it turned out, two of the gang were well known to Swedish police, due to their previous history.  On 12^th May, with the assistance of Grey Man funding and personnel, the CWD arrested three of the suspects at an apartment located in Banglamung, Pattaya. They were Swedish and British nationals all aged in their sixties. A further eight suspects are still at large, but Police have enough evidence to arrest them.  Two are known to have escaped Thailand: one a Western tourist and the other a Thai man known as Pan.  All are being hunted presently by International police.

Thailand’s Child Protection Division’s Police Major General Chaiwat Gaetworachai said that the arrested had abused many children in the Pattaya area.   During the arrests, Police officers found and confiscated sex toys, still and video cameras, computers and a photo album of naked children.  If found guilty they face long prison sentences.  Although a number of the ring are still at large, due to the fact that some were out of the country when the arrest warrants were issued, we believe they will all be caught in the near future and that the children of Pattaya are slightly safer due to our efforts. 

One of the young victims points out the suspects

Many boys were interviewed to gather evidence against these people and we respect their courage in being willing to make statements and testify in court. 

Every child abuser that we arrest prevents the future abuse of many children.  Our thanks to the CWD and the members of the Scandinavian Police units involved and especially to our Grey Man operatives who were instrumental in the arrest of these men.

These operations are funded by you so we can only do what you allow us to do.  A big thank you to all the Grey Man supporters worldwide who enable us to continue this great work to protect children.

John Curtis

You may remember that eight weeks ago we rescued a young 15 year old girl called Peng (not her real name) and just the other evening we had the opportunity to catch up with her again here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  She is a really shy, beautiful, 16 year old now who loves practising traditional Thai dancing and is doing quite well at school. 

Peng on the night she was rescued

She told us the other evening that if Grey Man had not been there on the night she was sold she would never have been able to see her mother again because of the shame she would have felt.  Luckily, Grey Man was there and Peng now has a promising future if she gets access to a good education.

Presently she is attending a Welfare school which is available to people on a low income and free to attend but it means that she has to live away from her mother.  These schools do not provide a quality education and Peng has the potential to go on to University.  She would like to become a nurse so that she can help other people.

Peng does not fall under the normal Grey Man guidelines for assistance because she was not sent to a shelter.  She was able to be returned to her mother without danger and we don’t normally get involved with assistance in these cases.

However, we do not want to waste her potential and so I am appealing to you for help.  To pay for her schooling at a preferred school for the next 2 years will cost around 15,000 baht per year.  That is only $600 per year or $50 per month.  Here is a chance for YOU to make a significant difference in the quality of life of another human being. 

So I urge you to consider that for a small amount of money by western standards, you can change one life for the better.  If you want to support Peng please contact me by e-mail at admin@thegreyman.org and we will work out the details.  Even small individual contributions will quickly add up to the required amount and anything extra will go towards her continuing education.  Just let us know by e-mail that you want your contribution to go towards Peng’s education.  Thank you in advance for being in the arena with us and not just a spectator.

John

March 18, 2009

Grey Man Operatives, in a combined operation with the Thai Police, arrested three members of a Laotian trafficking ring (including the ring leader) who have been transporting ethnic minority children from Laos into Thailand. The girls were sold to brothels and karaoke bars for sex work, and to factories for slave labour. Today, five 15-year old girls were rescued from the traffickers in an undercover operation this morning.

Boat used by the traffickers to enter Thailand illegally from Laos

In 2005, families in Hill-Tribe villages in Laos were approached by a group of Lao males who were led by a man named Aunwieng who was arrested today. He told the families that he would take their daughters and find them good jobs in Thailand. He also gave an advance on the girls’ salary to their parents - around 20,000 Thai Baht each or US$600 for each girl.

The girls stated that Aunwieng took them to Thailand where they were passed on to a female Laotian trafficker who put them to work in the sex industry. The girls were initially working at a karaoke bar in Pharn for a few weeks and were then trafficked to another province by a Thai male. They were eventually arrested by Thai Immigration Police and handed over to a Thai NGO. Although the girls’ statements were taken, the case managed to get ‘lost’ for three years.

The Thai NGO contacted us a month ago and asked if we could help. We responded and sent a team to investigate. Our people met with the Police in Bangkok responsible for the case. Covertly, we contacted people who knew the traffickers and organised to meet with them. We flew Prosecutors to interview the girls and met with a Police contingent to map out an action plan. Arrest warrants were to be issued, but could not be issued in time for our meeting with the traffickers. As a result of this, we negotiated to buy four girls from the traffickers and have the girls delivered at a later date.

Finally, the arrest warrants were ready and we just had to wait for a call from the traffickers. It came earlier this week. Grey Man then rolled into action with covert equipment and operatives.

Traffickers arrested on the beach

A series of meetings were held on Wednesday 18th March with police involved in the case.  Plans were made for four separate operations. One involved arresting the traffickers at two locations as well as separate raids on a house and a brothel.

At 10:00 am today, a Grey Man Team met with the first trafficker. By 10:05am one trafficker, Aunwieng, was in police custody. Another two traffickers were in police custody by 11:00 am and the girls that they wanted to sell to us were under Police protection. Only one trafficker resisted arrest but was quickly subdued.  Another girl was rescued from the house of one of the traffickers in a subsequent raid.

The face of the ringleader

These traffickers are part of a larger criminal ring and we expect up to seven further arrests. This gang has been acting without fear for many years and we estimate they have been moving 8-10 girls per month. Grey Man’s destruction of their ring means around 100 girls per year have been saved from trafficking.

One of the 15-year old girls rescued by Grey Man with a police guard

All at The Grey Man again convey our sincere thanks to the Thai Police CWD unit from Bangkok for an excellent job and to our Grey Man Team in Thailand for putting their lives on the line.

This is what we do.

John

Usually Grey Man operations in Thailand involve the rescue of ethnic minority or hill-tribe children who have no citizenship and therefore are easy prey for traffickers. Sometimes children are Burmese or Laotian and trying to support themselves and their families, but occasionally we rescue Thai citizens as well. A recent case involved three Thai girls and highlights a worrying trend. Two of the girls were 16, not working and simply wanted to make some cash to pay for mobile phones, smart clothes and entertainment.

Consumerism and materialism are increasing factors in the movement of Thai girls into prostitution, with a number of Thai schoolgirls and university women entering sex work to fund their lifestyles.  It is also an increasing factor in trafficking of children from the ethnic minorities as they, their parents, or both, simply want to acquire the material benefits of the modern world. This can mean anything from a new car, motorbike or TV to a mobile phone, dresses, shoes and jewelry.

However, in this recent case, the third girl, Peng (not her real name) had run away from home because her grandmother wanted her to go to school in another province where the education was free. To go to this school Peng had to live with her grandmother whom she did not like. Peng’s mother was widowed and poor so she encouraged the move to the free school. Peng, who was fifteen, did not want to leave her usual school and was very unhappy so she ran away from home and fell in with her two friends (the sixteen year-olds mentioned above).

Peng - another successful rescue

Two days later they encouraged Peng to come with them to a new job where they could make a lot of money quickly, so Peng joined them. Little did she know that the two older girls had been recruited by a 21-year old sex worker and her virginity was about to be sold for 10,000 baht (AUD$450) of which she would receive 2500 baht (AUD$112) and the older girls would be paid 2000 baht each to have sex with clients.

This story could have had the typical tragic ending where Peng, who did not know she had been sold, would have resisted and been raped. The damage done to her would have resulted in her manipulation by the pimp and, with her self-esteem damaged; she would have become another statistic. A girl with a bright future damaged beyond repair, continuing on in sex work and possibly dying young from AIDS like so many before her.

Luckily, and unknown to the pimp, the client was The Grey Man and the pimp was about to become a victim of one of our sting operations. Our operatives met the girls in a hotel room, and to make a long story much shorter, the police arrested the pimp. The girl’s parents were called. Social workers working with The Grey Man interviewed the girls and discovered Peng’s story. Her mother was shocked when contacted and she came to pick Peng up.

They both sat down with a social worker and an hour later Peng’s mother agreed to let Peng stay at her school and move in with an aunt she loved to minimize expenses for her mother. The mother was extremely relieved that her daughter had not become another victim of the sex trade. The story made the front page of the local newspaper but as usual we asked not to be mentioned and allowed the police to take the credit, richly deserved, as they did a great job.

This story could have ended so very differently but luckily Grey Man operatives are in the front line against trafficking, protecting girls like Peng and we are grateful to all of our supporters who allow us to keep them there. Thank you.

John

Grey Man received intelligence in March, 2006 about a pimp (a lady boy, trans-sexual called Nom) who was offering underage girls.  A sting operation was put in place and he turned up with a number of under-aged girls but unfortunately got cold feet and left before the operation was concluded. 

Two years later after receiving intelligence from a reliable source we again came across the pimp and again attempted a sting.  It took our operatives 6 months to build trust and we had to accept over-aged (over 18) girls during this time (no sex was involved) and found that all of them had become sex workers because they were in debt to the pimp.  Even when some of them had paid off their debt they were too frightened to leave and many showed us the signs of physical abuse from Nom that kept them working for him.

In October, last year, Nom finally offered us a young girl.  He said she was a grade 8 school girl (aged 14) and asked for 3500 Thai baht ($US100) for short-term sex (1 hour) with her.  Grey Man authorised our operatives to conduct a sting operation in conjunction with local police.  Unfortunately, Nom turned up with a girl who was not a school-girl at all.  We were sick of dealing with him by this stage and decided to get him off the streets once and for all and to protect the girls that were indebted to him and whom he had abused.

The sting went ahead and Nom was arrested.  From her Thai ID card the girl turned out to be 21 years old. She stated the reason she ended up as a sex worker was because she owed Nom money that she borrowed to pay for her education.  We asked a social worker to contact her parents and she was taken back to her family.

Police and Grey Man personnel arresting Nom the pimp

Although our brief is the rescue of children from the sex trade, we will also rescue adult women from sex work if they have been trafficked or forced into it.  We will also rescue those trafficked into other abusive forms of labour if the situation presents itself.  This case took some time but in the end we got an abusive pimp off the streets (he is awaiting trial), rescued a woman from prostitution and also freed her and her friends from debt bondage and the abuse of Nom.  This case took up a lot of Grey Man resources but demonstrates that we will pursue the perpetrators and rescue the victims wherever the opportunity presents itself.

John