KANCHANABURI: A joint military-police-civilian patrol rounded up five Myanmar migrants after they crossed the border through a natural crossing point in Sangkhla Buri district on Sunday morning.
They were among a larger group of Myanmar migrants spotted by the patrol hiding in the bushes by the Nam Kerk-Sangkhlaburi road near Moo 8 village in tambon Nong Lu.
The five -- three men and two women, aged 17-45 -- were captured while the rest fled.
Maung Saw Oo, 30, one of those arrested, said in Thai that they walked from Moulmein in Myanmar to the border with Sangkhla Buri district. When they were detained, they were about to set off for the Agricultural Centre in Sangkhlaburi town, where they were to board a vehicle to various destinations in the country.
Two were headed for Muang district of Kanchanaburi and had paid 9,500 baht each to a local smuggling gang. Another two had paid 14,000 baht each for transportation to employers in Ram Khamhaeng and Om Noi areas in Bangkok. The other had paid 14,000 baht to be taken to Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
After going through a health screening process, the five were handed over to Sangkhlaburi police for legal action. They were initially charged with illegal entry and violating an order of the provincial communicable disease committee.