THE SONGKRAN GIRLS
Where the Songkran topless teens learned to dance
Underage teenage girls given free meals and drinks at nightclub to dance topless. Club allegedly paid off police, owned by politician.
UNDERAGE DRINKING: Cop removed from post after pub raid
NAKHON PATHOM : The head of a
police station in Sam Phran district has been
moved to an inactive post after a raid at a
nightspot turned up more than 300
underage patrons.
Drugs police and
officers from the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission raided the Full Moon Pub on Phetkasem Road at around 3am yesterday.
Police
checked the identity cards of the
revellers and found over 300 were aged under 18. Five of them
tested positive for drugs.
The
operators of the nightspot had charged the underage drinkers a 100 baht entrance
fee.
The youngest customer was only 14 years old, said Sangsoon Kanasutr,
commander of
Narcotics Suppression Division 1, who led the raid.
Three teenage girls, who danced
topless before a crowd of Songkran revellers on Silom Road last Friday,
tipped off police about the pub.
The dancing
incident was widely reported on television and the internet.
The girls, who
surrendered to police on Monday night, said they joined a party at the pub, which offered a
promotion of free meals and drinks for women who were prepared to dance topless there.
Pol Maj Gen Sangsoon said police had also received several
complaints accusing the bar owners of serving alcohol to underage customers and violating opening hours. Officers also found documents containing a list of 20 police officers who appeared to have accepted daily payments of 500 baht from the bar owners.
The Full Moon Pub owners were charged with violating opening hours laws and allowing underage drinkers on the
premises.
Pol Lt Gen Phongsan Chiem-on, commander of Police Region 7, yesterday ordered the
transfer of Pol Col Passakorn Klanwan, chief of Pho Kaew police station, which is responsible for the area where the pub is located.
He will be stationed at Police Region 7
headquarters for 30 days.
A committee has been set up to find out why
local police failed to take action against the pub operators and whether they took
bribes.
A local politician, whose name has not been not
disclosed, is believed to own the pub which has been open for just one year.
Juvenile Observation and Protection Department director-general Tawatchai Thaikaew said the five
minors who tested positive for taking a
restricted substance would be sent to the department's Ban
Metta home.
The rest of the young
clubbers were sent home, he said.