POLICE on Wednesday arrested 17 Thai nationals for being in South Africa illegally and the South African owner of a brothel in an upmarket Johannesburg suburb for employing them. The Thai nationals, who include one man, allegedly violated their temporary residence visas by taking up employment, police said. The alleged brothel owner, Brian Knight, appeared in court on Wednesday and was released on bail. The Thais are due in court this week. Since August 1998, 48 Thai nationals have been arrested on similar charges, police said.