KANCHANABURI: Smuggling of illegal migrants is rampant along the border in Sangkhla Buri district with young motorcyclists being well paid to make many trips a day.
On Monday night, a team of border patrol and local police and soldiers from the Lat Ya task force arrested seven people, three smugglers and four border crossers, and seized three motorcycles at Songkhalia junction in tambon Nong Lu of Sangkhla Buri.
The smugglers, a woman and two men, and the illegal migrants were taken to Sangkhla Buri police station.
Residents of Phra Chedi Sam Ong village, also known as Three Pagodas Pass village, in tambon Nong Lu say this is far from unusual. They complain that smugglers are using a small army of motorcyclists to bring illegal border crossers to their village by day and night. They show no fear of being caught, with 10-12 motorcyclists regularly involved, residents say.
The motorcyclists make many trips a day from the border to the village, carrying 1-2 illegal passengers per trip.
Each motorcyclist was being paid 2,000 baht per migrant. This generated huge incomes for those hired to do the job, mostly teenagers from Songkhalia village in Sangkhla Buri district but also young motorcyclists from Bor Yeephun and Rai Oy villages in Myanmar, one border source said.
Illegal migrants mostly travelled from Payatongsu village in Myanmar. They took shelter at Bor Yeephun and Rai Oy villages before crossing the border into Sangkhla Buri district on foot or by motorcycle via natural border crossings at the Three Pagodas Pass village, which has many natural crossings.
Motorcyclists take them to forested areas near the village, where they wait for vehicles to take them to their destinations and jobs in other provinces.
A soldier in a protective clothing checks the temperatures of illegal migrants from Myanmar and their Thai smugglers in Sangkhla Buri district on Monday. (Photo supplied: Piyarat Chongcharoen)