Tourist police crack down on women AND transgenders on Pattaya's Beach Road

Following attempts to crack down on ladyboys offering sex on Pattaya's Beach Road last week the authorities have now targeted ALL sex workers.

Channel 7 and other Thai media outlets reported action by the Tourist Police against both women and ladyboys or transgenders.

Last week everyone fled the scene because the cops were in uniform.

Now most of the cops were in plain clothes in the operation that began at 9pm.

But videos showed that the sex workers were still getting wise to the crackdown with many running away from officers across the road or onto the beach.

Phaisan Rattanabanterng, a reporter, joined the crackdown and reported speaking to one sex worker who said they had many mouths to feed.

And they could make thousands of baht in a night.

The customers were nearly all foreigners.

Fines were no deterrent, went the report, with 80% of those targeted having a record of prostitution.

All this was to "restore Pattaya's image", the rhetoric continued.

Twenty nine arrests were made with court appearances and 1,000 baht fines in the offing.

ASEAN NOW notes that if we had a hot dinner for all the completely ineffective crackdowns on sex workers on Beach Road over the years all the news team would be severely overweight.

The moves can be seen in the light of the authorities - with the connivance of the invited Thai press - appearing to do something about the visible sex industry on the streets ahead of the high tourist season.

The sex workers will undoubtedly be back tonight - albeit with a watchful eye for the authorities who might spoil their night.

Source - Asean Now 

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Indonesian woman swallowed by giant python

An Indonesian woman has been found in the belly of a giant python after the swollen snake was captured near where she vanished while tending her vegetable garden, police said Saturday.

The body of 54-year-old Wa Tiba was found Friday when villagers cut open the seven-metre (23-foot) python which was found bloated in the village of Persiapan Lawela on the island of Muna, offshore of Sulawesi.

"Residents were suspicious the snake swallowed the victim, so they killed it, then carried it out of the garden," said local police chief Hamka, who like many Indonesians has only one name.

"The snake's belly was cut open and the body of the victim was found inside."

Some 100 residents, including worried relatives, launched a search for the woman after she failed to return from her garden Thursday night.

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Hamka said villagers found the giant serpent lying about 30 metres from Tiba's sandals and machete, adding she was swallowed head first and her body was found intact.

The garden in which she disappeared was at the base of a rocky cliff, pockmarked by caves, and known to be home to snakes, Hamka added.

 

Giant pythons, which regularly top six metres, are commonly found in Indonesia and the Philippines.

While the serpents have been known to attack small animals, attempts to eat people are rare.

In March last year, a farmer was killed by a python in the village of Salubiro on Sulawesi island.

Source - TheNation