A Thai lawyer claimed Wednesday that nine babies found in suspicious circumstances at a Bangkok condo on Tuesday are all "surrogate babies whose father is a rich Japanese businessman."
The lawyer, Ratprathan Tulathorn, said he represents the father of the babies and insisted the Japanese man, whom he declined to identify, loves them and spends thousands of dollars a month to ensure that they are well cared for.
But one of the baby sitters at the condo told police that a 27-year-old Japanese woman, described as the businessman's secretary, had a plan to take one of the babies abroad, raising police suspicion that cross-border human trafficking may be behind the entire facade, according to sources close to the matter.