PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN: Twelve Myanmar nationals arrested for illegal entry have told authorities that they paid a Thai broker 6,500 baht each to help them enter the country to get jobs in Phuket.
A team of soldiers, border patrol police, immigration officers and local volunteers spotted a group of people crossing the Thai-Myanmar border via the Tabaek natural border crossing in tambon Ao Noi in Muang district at around 1am on Saturday.
As the team moved in to arrest them, the group fled to hide in a rubber plantation where they were caught shortly afterward.
During the interrogation, the Myanmar nationals told authorities that they had paid 6,500 baht each in fees to a Thai broker via a Myanmar compatriot. They said the broker had promised to send a vehicle to pick them up and bring them to a Thai employer in Phuket.