Highway Police arrested 53 illegal Myanmar migrants found aboard a Bangkok-bound bus on a highway in Ayutthaya province early on Thursday.
Pol Maj Gen Wiwat Khamchamnan, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, said highway police arrested Samran Meelarp, the 46-year-old bus driver, and Pairoh Nuantarn, the 49-year-old attendant, and the 53 illegal border crossers about 4am.
Police acting on an informant's tip stopped the six-wheel bus at the 14-kilometre marker on the Bangkok-bound side of Highway 32 in tambon Ban Krod of Bang Pa-in district.
When questioned, the passengers said they had each paid 26,000-28,000 baht to a broker in Myanmar who had promised them jobs in Thailand.
The driver and his assistant said they hired to take their passengers from Sing Buri to Bangkok. The price was 20,000 baht, but they did not know the identity of the person who hired the bus.