A Fisheries Department official has been sacked after he was caught red-handed with three illegal Myanmar border crossers in a fisheries vehicle in Kanchanaburi province.
Director-general Chalermchai Suwannarak said on Monday he had signed an order dismissing Wutthiwong Sukmongkol, 35, with immediate effect.
Mr Wutthiwong was arrested by soldiers on Saturday for helping smuggle people into Thailand.
Mr Chalermchai also shunted Mr Wutthiwong's supervisor, chief of the fisheries checkpoint at ฺBan Phu Nam Ron in Muang district, to the head office in Bangkok pending an investigation into whether other officials were involved.
A security patrol on Saturday signalled the fisheries pickup driven by Mr Wutthiwong to pull over for a search at the Phu Nam Ron checkpoint. It was coming from the border area with Myanmar.
They found three Myanmar women who had illegally entered the country in the vehicle.
The name of his supervisor was not disclosed.