KANCHANABURI: Seventy-nine Myanmar nationals in five groups were arrested separately over two days after crossing the border illegally into Thong Pha Phum district. Five smugglers were also caught.
In the first case, a team of police, soldiers and local officials found nine men hiding underneath a house in tambon Tha Khanun about 10am on Wednesday following a tip-off.
All were charged with illegal entry from Myanmar. House owner Bunlert Borisut was detained for helping the men avoid arrest.
Later the same day, police manning a road checkpoint at the Thong Pha Phum intersection in tambon Tha Khanun signalled a pickup truck with Kanchanaburi licence plates to stop but the driver sped off. Pol Sub-Lt Somphob Khankham, deputy crime suppression chief at the Thong Pha Phum station, jumped onto the bed of the pickup but was still unable to get the driver to stop.
Other officers then gave chase before the driver stopped at the Ong Thi intersection, about 5km from the checkpoint, and fled into the forest. Officers later managed to arrest him.
The driver was identified as Phongchok Worngwong-aree, 43, a resident of tambon Tha Khanum. Seven men and three women rom Myanmar were found in the pickup and all were arrested.
Mr Phongchok reportedly told police he had been hired for 8,000 baht by a Myanmar man to transport the illegal migrants from Sangkhla Buri district to the Ban Phaeo intersection in Samut Sakhon province. When the group arrived there, someone was to come to transport them to jobs.
Speaking via an interpreter, the migrants told authorities that they had entered the country on foot via a natural crossing near the Three Pagodas pass in Sangkhla Buri district. A guide helped them to avoid many checkpoints.
Mr Phongchok subsequently drove the pickup truck that was to take the group to Samut Sakhon. They said they had each paid a job broker 8,000 to 10,000 baht.
Police stand guard next to some of the illegal migrants arrested in Thong Pha Phum, Kanchanaburi. (Photo: Piyarach Chongcharoen)
In the third case, officers arrested 35 illegal migrants in a forested area of tambon Hindad around 6.30pm on Wednesday after receiving a tip-off. The 25 males and 10 females included eight children and youths.
According to police, the migrants were looking to travel to inner provinces to work. All were handed over to the Thong Pha Phum police station for legal action.
One hour earlier, police manning a checkpoint in tambon Chalae chased a pickup that refused to stop for a search, intercepting it at a petrol station where they arrested six Myanmar men and two Thai smugglers: driver Somchai Mingkhwan, 40 and Kanchanit Chansomboon, 36, who accompanied him.
On Tuesday night, a smuggler and 19 illegal job seekers were arrested near a resort in tambon Tha Khanum. The smuggler, identified only as Win, a resident of Sangkhla Buri, was driving a Toyota Fortuner that officers managed to intercept at about 10.30pm.