PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Police have arrested 32 illegal Myanmar workers crammed into the bed of a pickup truck and the Thai national who drove it in Muang district of this southern province.
A patrol police team spotted the white pickup truck with a tarpaulin covering its bed fitted with two-metre-high iron rails travelling along Phetkasem road near Singkhon checkpoint in tambon Khlong Wan of Muang district on Thursday evening, said Pol Capt Manit Khammanee, deputy crime suppression chief and head of the patrol team.
Upon seeing police, the driver sped off, prompting them to give chase. They also radioed police along the route to stop the vehicle.
The truck was travelling at high speed, about 130-140km per hour along the route. Police in Muang and Kui Buri districts were also asked to set up checkpoints after the truck was spotted in an area near Kui Buri district, about 40km away from the first spot.
The driver then changed the direction to another route to avoid the arrest, but police later managed to stop the vehicle on Liap Chai Thalay Road in Muang district after the chase that lasted more than one hour. Driver Khongrit Siangphor, 31, of Chumphon province, was caught.
When the police removed the tarpaulin from the back of the pickup truck, they were shocked to see many Myanmar workers crammed inside. All looked exhausted and sweaty.
The engine of the truck was also found to have been modified, the police said.
A modified pickup truck is stopped following a car chase in Prachuap Khiri Khan. (Photo by Chaiwat Satyaem)
Of the 32 illegal migrant workers, 20 were men. They were around 20-32 years old.
The police found large blocks of ice on the floor of the bed, covered with a rubber sheet. They were told the ice were intended to reduce the heat and keep them cool.
During the interrogation, the migrant workers said they came from Mawlamyine town, opposite Kanchanaburi province. They then went to a border village in Myeik town of Taninthaaryi, opposite the Singkhon checkpoint in Prachuap Khiri Khan. It took them more than two days to cross the natural border on foot.
Police said the workers were destined for Malaysia. They paid about 16,500 baht each to a Thai smuggling gang which promised to send them to Thailand's neighbouring country.
Thirty-two illegal Myanmar workers and the Thai driver are taken to Khlong Wan police station in Prachuap Khiri Khan. (Photo by Chaiwat Satyaem)