A massage parlour in Bangkok welcomed a team of inspectors on Wednesday amid suspicions it has been illegally consuming groundwater.
Bangkok is famous for having hundreds of so-called "soapy massage" venues that often involve prostitution. They require the use of vast amounts of water for showers and baths.
The preliminary investigation into Long Beach Massage in Huai Kwang district comes one week after a similar inspection of Victoria's Secret Massage.
That parlour was raided earlier in the month, exposing human trafficking, illicit sex involving minors and alleged graft.
Authorities have also collected water samples from 80 other venues for lab tests in recent days.
Suwat Inthasit, deputy commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division, said the tests at Long Beach suggested the illegal use of groundwater.
The results showed the level of contaminants was 700 microsiemens per centimetre, several times higher than the level found in tap water. Officials suspected Long Beach may have been illegally drawing the water for years and were trying to locate exactly where it was drawn from, he said.
The operators of the parlour, if found guilty, could face up to six months in jail, a 20,000 baht fine or both for violating the Artesian Water Act 1977.
Water samples from a nearby food shop were also found to have higher contimination levels than normal at 364 µS/cm.
Samples were collected from 82 other outlets on Tuesday, a source said. Initial findings showed three or four had high levels of contaminants, indicating the use of groundwater.
Tests on the water quality inside Victoria's Secret Massage's lavatories showed the level of contaminants to be twice as high as regular tap water at 400 µS/cm.
The Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) has frozen 100 million baht worth of assets belonging to the owners of Victoria's Secret Massage and several other parties believed to be connected to human trafficking activities at the parlour. They believe a network may have been supplying illegal workers to a variety of parlours both in Bangkok and beyond.
Victoria's Secret Massage, located in the Rama IX area of Bang Kapi district, was raided on Jan 12.
The bust exposed the illegal hiring of minors and migrant workers and shone a light on what is claimed to be systemic bribery and corruption involving police and high-ranking officials.
It also exposed links to a crime syndicate believed responsible for orchestrating human trafficking on a larger scale.
