Thai authorities have successfully smashed the country's largest online escort service platform, arresting five of its administrators and rescuing two allegedly underage victims.

Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, director of the Child and Woman Protection, Anti-Human Trafficking, and Fishery Industry Center, announced the shutdown of the Fiwfans website yesterday, January 24.

Fiwfans, which had been operating for over four years, was a major platform for advertising online escort services. They also ran the site 'Sideline Thailand'.

The website reportedly generated more than 100 million baht (2.4 million GBP) a month in revenue. Forensic accounts believe more than three billion baht (72 million GBP) had gone through the books.

It reportedly listed around 46,000 individuals for sex work.

During the operation, officers said they rescued a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old girl who were advertising on the site.

The website's administrators, identified as individuals working in the IT sector, allegedly utilised advanced techniques to mask their identities, making it difficult for authorities to trace them.

They allegedly received payment for advertising prostitution through the TrueMoney system, which enabled them to conceal their actions.

The illicit funds were funneled via TrueMoney to the Fiwfans platform and later converted into online game credits to obscure the transactions further.

Additionally, the suspects allegedly disguised the site's location to appear as if it were based overseas.

A Laotian national was also arrested for trafficking underage girls from Laos for exploitation.

She reportedly earned 100,000-200,000 baht (2,400-2,800 GBP) monthly for more than two years by receiving a share of the income from child prostitution advertised on the platform.

Footage shows the operation as authorities seize evidence, with a female seen wearing only a blue towel.

Thatchai confirmed that the operation led to raids at six locations across Greater Bangkok.

He added: 'We seized relevant assets, including bankbooks, cash, title deeds, cars, motorcycles, gold, computers, phones, and other properties, amounting to a total of 34 million baht (816,000 GBP).

'We also froze six million baht (144,000 GBP) in accounts related to money laundering.'

(1 baht = 0.024 GBP)