CHON BURI: A subcontractor has been arrested for defying a ban on the movement of construction workers after taking migrant workers from Chachoengsao to Chon Buri for Covid tests.
Suntharee Lakchai, 27, was caught by officials and police in Bang Lamung district on Saturday after local authorities found she had moved migrant workers from a construction site in another province to Chon Buri without permission.
Bang Lamung district chief Wutthisak Singhadecho ordered the arrest after the woman had taken eight migrant workers to Bang Lamung Hospital for Covid-19 tests by claiming the workers stayed at a construction camp near another camp which had a cluster of infections in Si Racha district.
Health officials then conducted the tests on the workers and the test results of all workers came back positive. The hospital passed on the test results to the workers' employer. Yesterday morning, Ms Suntharee took the infected migrant workers to hospital for treatment. She also took another eight migrant workers for Covid-19 testing.
Hospital staff became suspicious about her taking more migrant workers for testing. During questioning, the woman admitted her workers had come from Chachoengsao, not Si Racha as she earlier claimed.
She told hospital officials that she used to take her migrant workers for tests in Chachoengsao, but she had to pay 2,500 baht per head. So she decided to take her workers to Bang Lamung district to get free Covid-19 tests instead.