Seven Lao women arrested in karaoke bar raid for 'working illegally' in Thailand

Seven Lao women were arrested for allegedly working illegally at two karaoke bars in northeast Thailand.

The women reportedly crossed into Thailand to find jobs despite having no valid work permits.

They were employed as servers at the karaoke bars when undercover immigration officers raided the venues in Nakhon Phanom on October 19.

Undercover agents posed as customers before entering the two establishments in the Ban Ueng and Si Songkhram subdistricts.

Footage shows cops storming the bars, where they found female foreign nationals working as bar hostesses and waitresses.

Nine people were arrested, including seven Lao women and two Thai employers accused of hiring foreign workers illegally.

Five of the Lao women, aged between 22 and 35, had reportedly entered Thailand on tourist visas but were allegedly working without permits or outside the scope of their authorised employment.

The other two, aged 20 and 35, were found without passports and were charged with entering and remaining in Thailand without permission, as well as working illegally.

The two Thai employers, 49 and 67, were charged with employing foreign nationals without work permits.

The older suspect also faced a charge of harbouring or concealing foreigners who had entered Thailand illegally or helping them evade arrest.

Police Major General Phairat Phukcharoen, commander of Immigration Division 4, said the arrests followed a directive from Immigration Bureau Commissioner Police Lieutenant General Noppasil Poolsawat to step up investigations into transnational crime, illegal employment and foreigners exploiting loopholes in the country's immigration system.

He said: 'All suspects were handed over to investigators at Si Songkhram Police Station for further legal proceedings.'

The arrests came two days after officials raided four unlicensed karaoke bars in Rayong province on October 17 over suspected links to a sex trade involving Vietnamese women.

Investigators said they found evidence of prostitution at two venues. A police superintendent and a district chief were subsequently transferred pending an investigation into allegations they had accepted bribes to ignore the bars' activities.