SONGKHLA: Fourteen Myanmar nationals were arrested late on Saturday night in the southern border district of Sadao while heading for the border with Malaysia, police said.
Pol Col Banthoeng Laocharoen, the Sadao police chief, said police manning a checkpoint at an intersection in front of Sadao police station signalled a Toyota pick-up with the rear covered with canvas to stop for a search.
The pick-up driver did not comply, but sped past the checkpoint, prompting police to give chase.
After about 10 kilometres, police fired gunshots that flattened the right front and rear tyres of the pick-up, forcing it to grind to a halt, with a police car blocking the way in front of it.
The driver tried again to escape by reversing the pick-up, causing it to hit a police pick-up behind it. The two vehicles were damaged.
The police found 14 Myanmar nationals in the vehicle - 11 men and three women. The pick-up driver was a Thai man, identified as Ekarat Kraikaew, from Hat Yai district of Songkhla.
The Myanmar people said they crossed the border via a natural crossing into Prachuap Khiri Khan province. After that they proceeded to Hat Yai district of Songkhla in a vehicle.
From Hat Yai, they were taken in the pick-up driven by Mr Ekarat to Sadao, where they would sneak across the border into Malaysia for jobs. However, they were caught before reaching the destination.
They said they had paid 25,000 baht each to job brokers.
Mr Ekarat, the Thai driver of the pick-up, said he was to be paid 5,000 baht after taking the Myanmar job seekers from Hat Yai to the border.
The Myanmar nationals were charged with illegally entering and staying in the country and Mr Ekarat with providing help and shelter for foreigners who had illegally entered the country.