A nurse has been arrested for allegedly running an illegal private abortion clinic in Muang district. The woman, who is aged 56, previously worked as nurse in private hospitals in the district. She was apprehended in her apartment around 9.30pm on 16 November. Abortion equipment and pills were impounded. The raid was jointly launched by police from the intellectual property enforcement centre and provincial police, after a suspect was detained earlier for selling abortion pills, who alleged they were purchased from this nurse, Ms S. A female plainclothes officer then posed as a pregnant woman who wanted an abortion, which was priced around 7,000 baht (US$215). Ms S took the officer to a room that was equipped to provide abortions. Police then arrested her.
According to police investigators, Ms S said she had induced abortions in over 100 women, many of them university students. She had trained as a nurse and worked at several private hospitals in the province before resigning to run her own clinic. Customers were charged between 5,000 and 45,000 baht ($150 to $1,375), depending on how advanced the pregnancy was.
Police said Ms S will be charged with running an unauthorised sanatorium, running a medical profession without registration or licence, and selling medication without a permit. She was arrested for a similar offence 10 years ago, according to police; the case at that time went to court and she was acquitted.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post, by Prasit Tangprasert, 17 November 2017