A total of 382 foreigners were arrested for immigration offences in raids which targeted 217 locations in Bangkok and other provinces across the country early on Friday morning.
Combined teams of police involved in the raids also arrested 121 Thais for other offences, bringing the total number of arrests to 503, said Pol Maj Gen Ittiphol Itthisarnronnchai, deputy chief of the Immigration Bureau.
Thirteen foreigners (4 from Iran, 3 from Laos, 2 from Russia and one each from the USA, India, China and Mongolia) were charged with overstaying their visas.
Another 252 (94 from Laos, 86 from Myanmar, 2 from Vietnam and one each from India and South Korean) were charged with illegal entry, Pol Maj Gen Itthiphol said.
The remaining 238 suspects (121 Thais, 50 from Cambodia, 40 from Myanmar, 6 each from Laos and Vietnam, 3 from India, 2 each from the Philippines, China, Australia and Russia and one each from England, South Korea, Greece and Germany) were charged with other offences, he said.
Officers from several agencies were involved in the latest phase of "Opertion X-ray Outlaw Foreigner" -- the Immigration Bureau, the Tourist Police Bureau, the Patrol and Special Operation Division, three police task forces and Huay Kwang police.
“The raids target 217 locations – 4 language schools, 73 companies and shops, 6 nightspots, 50 hotels and dormitories and 84 other places,’’ said Pol Maj Gen Itthiphol.
To date, a total of 6,971 people had been arrested during raids on 6,469 locations across the country, he said.