A woman told a court she was trafficked to Dundee from Thailand and forced into prostitution.
Jurors heard claims the woman was promised work as a masseuse before having her passport taken from her and told she had to have sex with men to pay a £70,000 debt.
Cameron Wilson, 30, and 40-year-old Mananchaya Wanitthanawet are on trial at the High Court in Dundee accused of trafficking two women into Scotland over a three-year period.
Trafficking allegation
The women, both Thai nationals, were allegedly forced to work in brothels in Dundee and across Scotland.
One referred to Wanitthanawet as “Nuch” (pronounced ‘noot’) and said she had been contacted via Facebook with the promise of work in the UK.
The woman – who cannot be named – said “Nuch” told her she could earn around £2,500 per month, significantly more than the wage from her office job in Thailand.
The court heard claims Wanitthanawet “got a team” in Thailand to acquire a UK visa for the woman and they escorted her to a plane at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.
She alleged Wanitthanawet initially said she would have to pay her £35,000 to get her into the UK but was told upon her arrival the debt had doubled.
She said she was met at Newcastle Airport in summer 2019 by Wanitthanawet, who later revealed there was no masseuse work.
Speaking through an interpreter, the woman said in pre-recorded evidence: “She took my passport and never gave me it back.
“She said it was very dangerous to keep a passport by yourself here.
“She said ‘when you have earned a certain amount of money, I will give you the passport back.’
“I felt like my hands were tied.”
Claim of being forced into sex
She added: “On the second day, she said ‘please dress up’ and I didn’t understand what she meant.
“‘Nuch’ said there’s no real massage work in this country – it’s only pretending to have that work.
“She told me ‘you must have sex with guys for money’.”
The woman, now in her early 30s, claimed Wanitthanawet told her that she would massage a client for 30 minutes before having sex with them.
She claimed “Nuch” told her to “go along with what the guy wants” and “do not resist”.
“I didn’t know what to do,” the visibly emotional woman added.
“I had no passport, I had no money and my English was almost none.
“She told me ‘work hard, get more clients, get more money quick’ and I would be free to go back to Thailand.
“I pretended that everything was okay.
“I was quite afraid of her. I didn’t know what would happen to me if I tried to escape.”
The charges
Wilson and Wanitthanawet deny “recruiting, transporting, transferring and harbouring” the first woman to addresses on Gardener Street, Lochee Road and other addresses in Dundee between July 1 2019 and July 4 2022.
Prosecutors allege her passport and documents were taken from her before being forced into sexual acts with men.
Wilson and Wanitthanawet allegedly took indecent images of her and transported her to various locations in Scotland for prostitution.
It is alleged this was with a view to her being exploited by means of exercising control and directing influence over her prostitution.
A second woman was allegedly subjected to similar control by Wilson and Wanitthanawet, both of Yeovil, Somerset, between November 3 2019 and April 3 2020 at addresses in Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.
Both face allegations of recruiting and transferring females for the purposes of prostitution as well as keeping and assisting in the management of a brothel on Hospital Street in Dundee, Stafford Street in Aberdeen and an address in Edinburgh.
Wilson allegedly lived knowingly or in part on the earnings of prostitution at the Gardener Street address.
Wanitthanawet faces a separate allegation of exercising control over the complainers to abet or compel their prostitution.
It is alleged £129,680 in criminal cash was collected and deposited into bank accounts from three Dundee post offices and one in Inverness between December 2019 and December 2020.
A final charge alleges both accused acquired and possessed £3,815 at the Gardener Street address on December 9 2020.
The trial before judge Lord Scott continues.
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