KRABI: Hotel staff became suspicious of the two guests because of the extended periods the love birds spent in their room and decided to check their passports and visa information. Police arrived in the middle of one of their online sex sessions.
Staying in luxury hotels and paying your way through naughty sexual escapades uploaded online to titillate the masses. That was the winning formula for US tourist Rod Matthews and his pretty 22-year-old girlfriend until the Thai police came knocking on their hotel bedroom door last Tuesday afternoon.
A US tourist and his Hungarian girlfriend were arrested on Tuesday in Krabi and are being charged with offences under Thailand’s immigration laws and the Computer Crime Act linked with uploading and trading in online pornography.
Police in Krabi confirmed that they had already initiated legal proceedings against the 31-year-old US man and his 22-year-old Hungarian girlfriend for producing and trading in pornography under Thai law following a raid on a luxury hotel in the popular resort location on Tuesday afternoon.
Charges for uploading and trading in porn facing American Hungarian couple after their arrest
‘The legal process has started so there’s no way they can get out of this,’; revealed Police Colonel Kongrith Suksai of the Royal Thai Police. ‘Initially, we went there because the hotel reported that the couple were overstaying their visas, but we also caught them red-handed filming pornography.’
Travelling around Thailand making steamy sex videos for the online public to pay for online
The couple had been travelling around Thailand making sex videos which also included scenes with multiple sex partners according to images and footage retrieved at the scene.
They have been named as 31-year-old Roderick Antonio Matthews Jr and his girlfriend or sex partner 22-year-old Kata Barbara Koszo.
Scenes with lighting and camera equipment surrounding the bed as police arrived at the door
Thai police have shown pictures of the bedroom area on Tuesday which showed a camera and lighting surrounding a bed in the couple’s hotel room.
The raid was instigated following a tip-off from the management of the hotel who had become suspicious of the couple’s activities and noted the extended periods that they spent in their hotel room.
Crackdown on visa overstayers
Thailand is currently running a crackdown on visa overstayers which encourages anyone with suspicions to tip-off the police through a hotline.
The current virus threat is also making the public more determined and anxious to cooperate with authorities.
Immigration database now assisting in the fight against the coronavirus and linked to health service
This week, Thailand’s immigration police announced that they are cooperating with the Ministry of Public Health to allow full access to the police biometric database showing the history of all visitors entering Thailand and their travel history.
Thailand is determined to prevent a third stage outbreak of the virus where it essentially becomes rampant as happened in Wuhan and Chan’s Hubei province at the end of January.
Charges confirmed against the couple
On Tuesday, Colonel Kongrith confirmed the full extent of the charges being pressed against the couple. They are consequential.
‘We will charge them with publishing and trading pornography in the Kingdom, earning income without a valid employment permit and overstaying their visas.,’ he said.
Section 286 of the Criminal Code and Article 14(4) of the Computer Crime Act – facing a maximum sentence of 5 years if found guilty
Aside from the immigration offences which could well see the couple separated and held in prison for several months, there are significant punishments under Section 286 of the Thai Criminal Code for trading in obscenity and an even more stringent provision under Article 14(4) of the Computer Crime Act.
The provision under the 2007 Computer Crime Act specifies a term of imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to ฿100,000 or both if found guilty.
Police gathering evidence to present to the court
Police are still reported to be gathering further evidence from the confiscated gear and through interviews with the suspects to present a case to the court.
It is suspected that the couple were uploading videos and pornographic material to an adult website which allowed them to generate income from online viewers who paid to access the raunchy material.
