Two Ugandan arrested in Koh Phangan vice raid

2026-03-02 - 03:03

KOH PHANGAN — 1 March 2026, Thai tourist police have arrested two Ugandan women on the resort island of Koh Phangan on suspicion of running a prostitution operation via WhatsApp, earning about 500,000 baht a month and sending the money home, authorities said. Investigators led by Lt. Col. Winij Boonchit searched a rented house in Moo 2, Koh Phangan subdistrict, Surat Thani province, after receiving a tip-off from an Israeli tourist. The informant alleged that a group of foreign women were offering sexual services and suspected thefts from clients. Officers arranged a sting operation through WhatsApp, agreeing to pay 5,000 baht for two encounters. After an undercover officer signalled, police entered the house and arrested two suspects identified as Janat Nakalema, 32, and Mariam Namatovu, 29, both Ugandan nationals. They were detained while allegedly providing services to a foreign male tourist inside the property. During questioning, both women confessed, police said, that they had been operating on Koh Phangan for about two months, focusing mainly on foreign clients and seeing an average of three to four customers a day. Over that period, they said, they had served more than 180 clients, generating about 500,000 baht per month. The money was sent to their families in Uganda. The women were charged with assembling in a place of prostitution for the purpose of prostitution and publicly advertising or soliciting for prostitution. They were handed over to investigators at Koh Phangan police station for legal proceedings and possible deportation.