Bangkok cops arrest 61 men at gay chemsex party ‘breaking Covid-19 rules’
Thai cops arrested 61 men at a gay chemsex party allegedly breaking Covid-19 rules.
Police raided the sauna packed with naked men without masks – some of them having group sex – in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sunday night (May 23).
The three-storey fitness building with a pool was stormed by police after neighbours complained about loud music coming from karaoke speakers and reported the men to local authorities.
Aside from the customers who were mostly gay clients not following social distancing rules, some needles, used condoms, and plastic bags that contained crystal meth and ‘poppers’ were allegedly found at the party.
Bangkok’s Wang Thong Lang District police station superintendent Police Colonel Ekapop Tanprayoon said on Monday (May 24) that one out of the 61 who were arrested had also tested positive for coronavirus – risking a severe flare-up in cases of the virus.
He said: ‘The Department of Medical Services under the Ministry of Public Health reported to us that one of the 61 arrested was infected with COVID-19.
‘We have quarantined everyone while monitoring their health to prevent further transmission.
‘This is the reason there is an emergency decree banning parties.
It is to stop cases of Covid-19 spreading.
Now we will be working hard to prevent another cluster of cases.’ The owner of the sauna, Jinna Grisjinda, 63, refused to give comments to the police and refused to give a drug test while 14 of his customers confessed to having taken meth that night with 37 men testing positive for alcohol – also banned from being sold during the current Covid-19 restrictions.
All of the men were detained at the Wang Thong Lang police station where they were monitored for Covid-19 symptoms while investigations are ongoing.
Following the incident, Ramkhamkhaeng district has been declared a red high-risk coronavirus zone.
Thirty police officers from the arresting station have also tested for coronavirus despite all of them having been vaccinated on May 24 as a precautionary measure.
Thailand has recorded 135,439 Covid-19 cases so far with 832 deaths as of May 25.
The government banned all public gatherings, parties and bars from operating following a third wave of cases which soared in April.
Police said that all those attending the party would be charged with breaking the country’s Emergency Decree, which came into force last year at the start of the pandemic.