KL wary of Thai prostitutes

KL wary of Thai prostitutes

BANGKOK (AFP): Malaysian authorities concerned about a huge influx of Thai prostitutes during next month's Southeast Asian Games have asked Thai police to screen women crossing the border, a report said on Friday.

A senior immigration official told The Nation newspaper that Malaysia was afraid visitors to its capital Kuala Lumpur would get the wrong impression if the city was packed with sex workers during the September 8-17 Games.

Police Colonel Surin Palare from the Sadao border checkpoint said Thailand had already blacklisted some 200 women who were deported from Malaysia on prostitution charges.

Surin said the crackdown for the Games would also help authorities dismantle multinational gangs which traffic women around the region.