FORMER massage-parlour tycoon Chuvit Kamolvisit yesterday handed over evidence to back his claim that the real owner of the massage parlour Victoria’s: The Secret Forever remains at large.

Authorities are cracking down on the massage parlour in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district on suspicion that it engaged in underage prostitution and human trafficking after a recent raid on the premises.

On Wednesday, authorities denied allegations that the crackdown was politically motivated.

At least seven suspects have already been detained in connection with the case, including Sasithorn Weerathepsuporn, a major shareholder and the licence-holder of the business. “It’s strange that the name of the real owner has not been mentioned at all,” said Chuvit, a previous owner of Victoria’s.

As a present-day news host, Chuvit reiterated yesterday that he had sold the massage parlour to Kampol Weerathepsuporn, not Sasithorn.

“I have not even seen Sasithorn before. Documents about the purchase should qualify as evidence,” he said after emerging from meeting with police.

Police started investigating Victoria’s after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and military raided the venue on January 12.

The testimony of female workers rounded up in the raid strongly suggested that the venue had engaged in prostitution and some sex workers were underage.

Chuvit said he had decided to speak up about the real owner in the hope of supporting the country’s anti-human trafficking efforts.

After Chuvit mentioned Kampol’s name on TV, police invited him to a meeting yesterday. He spent more than five hours with police.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Chuvit’s information had been useful.

“But it’s not enough to issue an arrest warrant for Kampol. Immigration police’s records show Kampol is still in Thailand,” he said.

Evidence and testimony from 90 people was solid enough for police to obtain arrest warrants for three more suspects who were cashiers at Victoria’s, he added. They were identified as Supatra Sarad, Yanisa Prombutr and Pratuang Tutrasang.

Pol Lt-Colonel Supat Thamthanarug, who heads the DSI Bureau of Human Trafficking Crime, said he was in the process of taking over the Victoria’s case from police.

He said he hoped Wang Thong Lang Police Station, whose jurisdiction covers Victoria’s, would quickly hand over the case to ensure the ongoing investigation proceeds smoothly.

“My bureau has already invited relevant authorities such as the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to serve as advisers in this case,” he added.

Srivara said it would take about three days to transfer the case because police would act on written notice.

Indo Bangkok Film Co Ltd was on Wednesday seen filming scenes, between 9.30am and 11.30am, featuring women wearing revealing costumes selling what appeared to be sex toys. Placards were set up displaying the words “Adult Toys” and “Sex Toys” as well as photos of near-naked women.

The filming was recorded by Pu Banglampoo, who posted a video clip on Facebook that went viral yesterday.

Pol Colonel Pitak Suthikul, police commander of Chanasongkram Police Station, said that the film company on Tuesday asked police for assistance and permission because they wanted to film scenes for the movie “Happy Bhag Jayegi Return (2018)” on Khaosan Road.

The film apparently was intended for distribution in India.

The crew showed their permission form from the Tourism Authority of Thailand in which the department clearly asked the team to be aware not do anything that caused a negative impact on Thailand’s tourism.

Pol Colonel Puwadon Unpho, deputy traffic commander at the same station, said he had been informed that the movie’s location would be identified as China, not Thailand.

“I was briefed on the details of the scenes and told that the firm had already shot several scenes in Thailand in many areas,” he said.

However, Pitak said that when he saw the scenes and items to be displayed on Wednesday, he ordered the shooting to stop immediately because the photos, items and placards were not appropriate.

He then had officers file four charges against the firm.

The company is based in Pattaya and has two executives, one Thai and one Indian. Both executives were yesterday reportedly on their way to acknowledge the charges.

The filmmakers were charged with offences including not following authorities’ orders, exporting or disseminating pornographic movies for commercial purposes, and acting indecently in public.

The 36-year-old TV star broke the shocking news on social media on Thursday, a month after Chanathip gave an interview saying that he took the relationship seriously and was ready to take it to the next level.

In her post, Pitchanart wrote: “To everyone, I have been uncomfortable with the ongoing situation for over 10 days and I cannot get over with it. If I continue this way, it will be too much for me. I’m going to have depression as our love has come to the end of the line. Jay himself is sad and I am in great sorrow too.”

Pitchanart also mentioned there were unspecified factors that had led to the end of the romance although they still had feelings for each other.

“Please remain supportive of both of us and please no longer tag me or ask any questions. I need time to heal. Thank you ka,” she wrote.

Rumours had spread that the football player’s family could be the cause of the break-up. Chanathip and Pitchanart started dating four years ago amid a controversy about their age difference.

Chanathip, 24, is currently playing for Consadole Sapporo in Japan.

The increase, which results in grouping provinces into one of seven different levels of wage increases based on their economic growth rate, was “appropriate”, said Don Nakornthab, senior director of the BOT’s Economic and Policy Department.

The average wage hike was approximately a 3.4 per cent increase, which was neither too much nor too little and was in line with an economy that has been continuously improving although not at the same rate everywhere, said Don.

Workers, especially those 12 per cent of workers who still earned less than the minimum wage rate, could get additional income from the wage hike and their debt burden lessened, he said. And that would lead to an improvement in overall consumption, he added.

Varying the increase based on a province’s rate of economic growth was also appropriate as it is based on the provinces’ economic and social contexts, Don said.

However, he said the anxiety over the capacity of business operators to increase production to support the higher cost in wage required close monitoring, especially among the small entrepreneurs whose main cost of production is often low-earning workers.

The BOT would follow the wage hike’s impact to the country’s inflation rate, he said. The business operators’ decision about hiking prices of goods would depend on how much the workers’ average income had increased, the strength of the economy at the time and the business operators’ competition.

The run, called “YouTube Run for UNHCR”, will be held on February 18 at King Rama IX Park.

“As human beings we should help and take care of each other. I’d like to invite all Thais to join the run and stand by the refugees during their hard times,” Thai actress and model Praya “Pu” Lundberg, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, said during a press conference on Thursday.

The present period marks the worst crisis and highest number of refugees since World War Two, she said.

Ben King, Google Thailand’s country director, said as the number of refugees was increasing, Google, which owns YouTube, wanted to be part the solution to the crisis and raise awareness in society.

Funds raised by the run will be given to the UNHCR to support its operations, including in emergency situations such as Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Tickets are being sold at http://www.fabmotion.co.th/youtuberunforunhcr

Nicha Kiatthanapaiboon said she would consult with her lawyer whether to ask for compensation as she was wrongfully jailed for three nights.

The Court in Tak had issued an arrest warrant against Nicha on a fraud charge after she failed to show up for earlier summonses. A woman complained to Tak police that she was lured into depositing money into a bank account under Nicha’s name.

When Nicha showed up at a Tak police station, she was arrested. Lacking bail money, she had to spend three nights in jail before being freed.

Police later discovered that a gang used her missing identity card to open bank accounts and lured victims to wire money into bank accounts under Nicha’s name. The national police chief on Wednesday announced that she was a victim, not a gang member.

Tak justice official Yongyuth Thammanittayangkul said that Nicha’s rights had been violated and she could therefore demand for compensation, including for reimbursement of lawyer fees, travel expenses and other costs.

Nicha told reporters that she was glad that the Court had dismissed the charge and released her.

“I now understand that police in Tak have done their duties and according to the laws. I wish to warn those who fell victims of this gang to alert police in their areas or alert the centre with expertise in the matter by texting 1155,” Nicha said.

She will consult with her lawyer regarding demanding compensation from the police department for having been wrongfully detained, Nicha said.

“My life has changed drastically during the time of the case as I have to fight for my own justice. This is new for me,” she said.

Thai News Agency reported that fire fighters rushed to the scene which is before Darasamut School near Surakul sports stadium at about 9.30am. They managed to extinguish the blaze that engulfed two shops and burn them down to the ground. No reports of injuries.

The new wage will come into effect on April 1, Jarin Chakkapak, permanent secretary of the Labour Ministry, who chaired the tripartite minimum wage committee, said on Wednesday after the meeting.

Phuket, Chon Buri and Rayong will have the highest daily minimum wage of Bt330, while Bangkok and surrounding provinces will have the second highest of Bt325.

Workers’ representatives who attended the meeting expressed satisfaction with the new rates.

The nationwide minimum wage was raised from Bt300 to Bt310 last year after remaining static for three years from 2014 to 2016.

After the increase, the average minimum wage will be Bt315.97 per day.

Jarin said he would propose the hike to Labour Minister Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew before submitting it to the Cabinet.

Organised for The Nation’s NJ Digital and City Life Chiang Mai, the essay competition will accept English articles for consideration till the end of this month.

The theme for the competition is “Moving Forward”.

Entries can be submitted via njdigital.net/Dublin or facebook.|com/Njdigitalfanpage.

For more than a decade, the annual event has attracted interest from students in Thailand.

In support of the contest, workshops for teachers have also been held to equip English-language teachers with additional skills so that they can improve their lessons for their students.

The latest workshop was held last Saturday at the Nation University Bangna Campus.

The topic for this year’s seminar is “Common mistakes in writing English”, with the session broadcast live on Facebook at the NJ Digital fan page so that people who did not attend could watch it too.

Professor Ingtip Rattarangsee from Chulalongkorn University’s Language Institute led the workshop.

“Grammar and structure are important. Do not think that just because your writing communicates you point, it’s already okay because it may be misleading, “said Ingtip.

A teacher who joined the workshop said it had been very useful.

“We should start teaching English from the very basic level like grammar. From there, we can gradually move to higher levels,” she said.

She also said English language was very important to children in the current period.

This year, the Embassy of Ireland, OCS l PCS (Outsourced Client Solutions), Kerry Group, the Irish Thai Chamber of Commerce and Emerald Cultural Institute have supported the 13th Junior Dublin Literary Awards for Thailand contest.

Jirat was arrested in Nonthaburi province last September while Thip-apa – who was linked to the drug ring allegedly led by Laotian Xaysana Keopimpha – was arrested in Udon Thani earlier this week. Xaysana was arrested at Suvarnabhumi Airport last January. As part of the operation, codenamed “Chaiya Sayop Pairee 61/2”, 18 locations in Bangkok and its vicinity were searched yesterday, and officers impounded properties and assets worth Bt100 million reportedly belonging to Jirat’s network, Sommai said.

Among the targeted sites were two condominiums and a house in Bangkok linked to Jirat’s brother-in-law, Thaweesak Phurungreung, 47, who allegedly helped manage and launder Jirat’s ill-gotten assets and was wanted under an arrest warrant issued last month on the charge of aiding drug trafficking. However, no suspected or illegal item was found.

At a three-storey house in Phra Nakhon district’s Wang Burapha area, Thaweesak’s younger brother Krisada showed Sommai and officers two safe boxes, in which Thaweesak often deposited valuables, and the officers found 21 registered pistols, which they seized for further investigation.

Thaweesak is believed to be still lying low in Thailand. Sommai said that the arrest on Monday night of 31-year-old Thip-apa, who was married to a highway policeman of lieutenant-colonel rank, also led to the discovery of a Toyota Wish car with a secret compartment that could be used to hide money or narcotics from her house in Udon Thani province.

Her network allegedly smuggled drugs from Laos into Thailand via Nong Khai and then to Songkhla for transport to a third country, he said.

Thip-apa’s network is allegedly linked to 500 kilograms of marijuana seized in Songkhla last October. Police are inquiring as to whether her policeman husband had advised her on how to avoid detection, he added.

The NSB would hold a press conference detailing the operation’s results today, he said.

During Jirat’s arrest at his home in Nonthaburi last September, officers seized Bt2 million in cash from a safe-deposit box and a bankbook indicating a further Bt60 million was in circulation. Jirat’s arrest stemmed from the police seizure of 1 million “yaba” pills and 400 kilograms of “ice” crystal methamphetamine in 2016 that he had allegedly ordered from the North to be distributed in the South and Central Thailand.

Jirat –a member of the same drug-dealing network as female Myanmar drug suspect Min Thein Aye, who was also arrested in Bangkok last November – was using disposable phone SIM cards allegedly supplied by people from neighbouring countries, making it difficult for police to trace him.