Bahrain, Jul 9 (Gulf Daily News): THE rescue of a woman in Bahrain has helped bust an international trafficking ring in Thailand, it emerged yesterday.

A Thai woman and former Bahrain resident has been arrested in Bangkok on Wednesday for alleged human trafficking, according to Thai media reports.

Pavadi Kheunpetch, aged 33, was charged by Bangkok's Customs Department for sending young women to Bahrain to work as prostitutes.

Bahrain police had reportedly rescued a young Thai woman who claimed that Ms Kheunpetch and her friends lured her into moving to Bahrain to work as a receptionist at a hotel outlet.

The alleged trafficker, who hails from the Chiang Rai region in northern Thailand, reportedly promised the woman a monthly salary of $4,280 (BD1,613) and covered her travel expenses.

Upon her arrival, however, the young woman was allegedly detained and forced into sex trade.

Ms Kheunpetch confirmed that she used to work in Bahrain, but claimed that she didn't know the young woman personally, according to media reports.

She also admitted that her friend Rattana Janhom and two accomplices invited the young woman to travel from the central Thailand town of Kanchanaburi to Bahrain.

The announcements were made by Thailand's Social Development and Human Security Minister Issara Somchai at a Press conference at Bangkok's Crime Suppression Bureau's Suppression of Human Trafficking Division.

The Thai Embassy yesterday said that it wasn't aware of the case, but planned to look into it.

The arrest comes as a string of cases uncovered in Bahrain that led to charges being made against alleged Thai human traffickers.

The GDN reported early last month that another Thai woman was detained by Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) police in Pattaya for her involvement in the illegal trafficking of Thai women for prostitution in Bahrain.

She was taken into custody after a joint international investigation revealed her as a key suspect in allegedly trafficking seven Thai women who had escaped the network and reported their case at their embassy in Bahrain.

Sureerat Chaiphrom was reportedly arrested on charges of collaborating with a trans-national human trafficking gang as well as illegal kidnapping and detention of people against their will.

The warrant for her arrest was issued at the conclusion of investigations into the human trafficking of seven Thai women, who had been allegedly deceived into leaving the country for work.

The women told the embassy that they had been deceived to work as housemaids, before being detained against their will and made to work in an entertainment venue as prostitutes.

They claimed airfares and visas were all covered by Ms Chaiphrom with an understanding that the women could pay her back after starting work in Bahrain.

Earlier In January, Thai police arrested two men suspected of being involved in human trafficking in Bahrain.

Authorities from Thailand's human trafficking suppression division detained a 50-year-old and a 30-year-old at Suvarnabhumi Airport as the Thais returned home.

Division deputy police Colonel Suwitpol Imjairat said the arrests followed complaints from two women who claimed they had been lured into prostitution in Bahrain.

The victims, both aged 30, told police that their friends persuaded them to work as masseuses at a spa in Manama in November last year after they were promised a weekly wage between 100,000 baht (BD1,140) and 200,000 baht (BD2,280).

The women reportedly arrived in Bahrain last December and were met by men who took them to a hotel and allegedly forced them into prostitution.

Police in Bahrain reportedly arrested the women and released them last December, sending them back to Thailand.

One of the suspects denied the allegations, claiming he was only asked to drive the women to the hotel and was not involved in forcing them into prostitution.

Thailand's Social Development and Welfare Department deputy director-general Yanee Letkrai said then that 60 Thai victims of human trafficking had been sent back to the country from various regions during last year.

The countries where they are trafficked the most are Bahrain, Malaysia, Japan, South Africa and Libya, she added.