KANCHANABURI: Five Myanmar migrants were caught with Thai national identification cards while travelling on vans plying between Phra Chedi Sam Ong (Three Pagodas) border checkpoint and Sangkhlaburi district town on Sunday.
Four were arrested about 9.30am when a van from Phra Chedi Sam Ong was stopped for a check at the Nam Kroek security checkpoint on Highway 323, manned by soldiers from the Lat Ya Task Force, at Moo 8 village in tambon Nong Lu.
The soldiers checked the IDs of the six passengers and found two men, aged 35 and 42, and two women, aged 28 and 29, were actually Myanmar nationals presenting Thai ID cards. Their faces did not match the pictures on the cards.
The four Myanmar nationals said they travelled by bus from Moulmein in Myanmar and arrived at Phyathonezu township opposite Kanchanaburi's Sangkhlaburi district on May 14.
They stayed overnight at the house of a Myanmar travel broker. On Sunday morning, they travelled on motorcycle taxis to the border with Thailand and entered Thailand via a natural crossing. Then they boarded the van, and were heading for Kanchanaburi town.
They said they had paid 20,000 baht each to a travel broker. They admitted to having Thai ID cards in their possession to cover their real identities.
About 2 hours later, another Myanmar man, 37, was arrested at the same checkpoint. He was also holding a Thai ID card. He admitted to crossing the border with the four people who were previously arrested.
The five illegal border crossers were handed over to Sangkhlaburi police for legal action.