The Royal Thai Police (RTP) dismissed claims of sex trade happening in Soi Sukhumvit 11 and its vicinity in Wattana district following a brawl involving transgender Filipino women and their Thai counterparts.
On Tuesday, transgender Filipino women were mauled by a mob of members of the LGBTQIA community in Bangkok in Thailand, most of them also transgender people. This fight – which broke out at a restaurant in Soi Sukhumvit 11, near Nana BTS station – was said to have started due to a misunderstanding that led to an altercation between 20 Filipino transgender women and four of their Thai counterparts. The Thai transgender women called for back-up, with the situation escalating, as the eventual mob gathered for just retribution on the transpinays who were alleged to have attacked their fellow Thais. The RTP had to get involved.
Initially emerging as a reason for the brawl was territorial dispute among local and non-local sex workers. But RPT is now stating – on record – that no sex trade is happening in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok.
As reported by Bangkok Post, Police Major General Withawat Shinkham, commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 5, was quoted as saying that police who checked the area found no evidence of the involvement of the transgender Filipino women in prostitution.
The police will, reportedly, continue checking if there is any sex trade in the area.
Two of the transgender Filipino women were already charged with physical assault, while a third one is being hunted. One transgender Thai woman is also facing an assault charge. The parties involved have been advised to settle the case outside court.
Six Thais and one Filipino were injured in the brawl.
In a statement, the Society of Trans Women of the Philippines (STRAP) said that what happened in Bangkok is unfortunate. “It is disheartening to see our trans sisters be violent towards each other when our community has consistently and tirelessly campaigned for love and acceptance. We remain firm: violence has no place in our community.”
STRAP is currently connecting with Thai transgender organizations “to respond to the issue”, even as it called on the Philippine Embassy in Thailand “to assist our transpinay sisters amid the conflict, especially to those who were just mistakenly involved in the brawl.”
STRAP similarly called on the media “to not sensationalize matters like this, and instead focus on the lack of gender recognition laws here and in Thailand and how this contributes to our systemic oppression. Ultimately, we hope for healing and resolution between the two parties as we are all part of the same community dreaming of a society that is kinder and more accepting for all of us.”
