THIRTEEN Thai women, allegedly prostitutes, have been arrested and face deportation from South Africa for working without permits, police said on Sunday. The women and Wolfgang Meyer, owner of a Johannesburg nightclub, were arrested at the weekend after police followed up complaints from 12 other Thai women, police spokesman Gideon Thessner said. The 12 had sought help from the Thai embassy after Meyer, 52, allegedly withheld their passports, preventing them from returning home, Thessner said. They have since been deported. Thessner said the women entered the country legally, saying they were on holiday, but then stayed on to work as prostitutes.