Several Chinese employees, including the head chef at the Chinese restaurant Zhou in the Danish city of Vejle, were recently given 14 days to leave the country, local media JydskeVestkysten reports.
According to Zhou’s property owner and landlord, Jørn Hansen, the employees experienced problems in maintaining their work permits in Denmark and have had to travel back to China. Given only two weeks to leave Denmark, the owners of Zhou were unable to find other Chinese employees and therefore the restaurant had to close down.
Jørn Hansen explains, “They had tried for a long time to find new employees and they only wanted to hire Chinese nationals, but they did not succeed. It is a shame for the restaurateur because it was not the plan that they should close.”
But instead of looking for a new restaurateur to take over the building, Jørn Hansen and his Thai wife decided to open their own restaurant. Jørn Hansen’s wife, Tikamporn Maisri Hansen, or just Tika, has lived in Denmark since 1999. She had previously worked in several sushi and Thai restaurants in Copenhagen, and she and her husband have now established the joint company “Kruathai Thai Restaurant ApS.” Kruathai means Thai cuisine, and that’s exactly what the couple will be serving.
Although Jørn Hansen can now call himself a restaurateur, Tika will be in charge of all operations and staff. “Tika has a large network, and she has found staff and chefs for the restaurant, which will offer both buffet and à la carte with her special dishes. We believe that there is room for one more Thai restaurant that offers authentic Thai food in Vejle,” Jørn Hansen says.
The plan is for Kruathai restaurant to open its doors to their first guests on Friday 28 May.
Two Thai women were convicted on Monday in a major case of human trafficking and pimping. They recruited 25 women for prostitution, and some of them were subjected to human trafficking.
This was reported by the Court in Kolding to Ritzau.
40-year-old Jutharat Jarndee was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and was deported with a six-year entry ban.
At the same time, 48-year-old Tikamporn Maisri Hansen was sentenced to four years in prison. She was deported with a permanent entry ban.
Fredericia Dagblad, which was present at the sentencing, writes that the two defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in relation to five of the women.
The crime took place over a period from October 2023 to December 2024.
The Thai women were picked up at the airport when they arrived in Denmark. They were subsequently accommodated at addresses in Horsens and Fredericia, respectively.
According to the indictment, brothel operations were conducted from the addresses under degrading conditions.
The buildings contained mold, among other things.
The now-convicted persons are also said to have controlled the five women’s meals, working hours, freedom of movement and earnings.
The police have previously described how the women were to work from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week, and they did not decide for themselves which sexual services they were to offer to customers.
The prosecutor’s office in the police district believed that six of them had been subjected to human trafficking, but according to Fredericia Dagblad they were only found guilty in five cases.
Jutharat Jarndee has previously admitted to the part about pimping, but has denied being guilty of human trafficking. The same has Tikamporn Maisri Hansen.
However, the court found the women’s explanations unreliable and concluded that Tikamporn Maisri Hansen had played a key role in the prostitution environment.
– Tikamporn talks about ‘us’, ‘our clinic’. It appears that she advises on removing advertisements on the internet. She has assisted in picking up and bringing women. Women who ‘were supposed to sell pussy and fuck’, the judge said in court with references to previous audio recordings. This is reported by Fredericia Dagblad.
The court chose to confiscate 500,000 kroner from each of the women, as it was assessed that it had been their proceeds.
The women have appealed Monday’s verdict, the newspaper reports.
They were arrested on December 10 last year after a lengthy investigation by the Immigration Control Department West, which is a special unit.
After the arrest, they were remanded in custody, and they have been ever since.
The case is important from a societal perspective, says Deputy Police Inspector Sønke Iwersen in a press release from the police. It may pave the way for other cases.
– The investigation has given us experience with some initiatives and ways we have approached the case, which will benefit future investigations in similar cases, he says.
https://ekstrabladet.dk/krimi/drev-jyske-bordeller-to-kvinder-doemt/10996918
[…] But instead of looking for a new restaurateur to take over the building, Jørn Hansen and his Thai wife decided to open their own restaurant. Jørn Hansen’s source website […]