KANCHANABURI: Ninety-five Myanmar migrants were arrested by Thai authorities after they illegally crossed the border into this western border province on Wednesday morning.
About 3am, two pickups modified as refrigerated trucks were stopped for a search at a checkpoint on Highway 3272 in tambon Tha Khanun, Thong Pha Phum district.
Police and soldiers manning the checkpoint found 21 Myanmar migrants hidden in the storage compartment of the first truck and another 18 in the second truck - 39 in total.
The drivers of the two vehicles - Bai Iamram, 45, from Nakhon Sawan's Mae Wong district, and Sarayut Iamram, 33, from Muang district of Buri Ram - were arrested.
At about the same time, another group of 43 migrants were spotted and rounded up while resting in a cassava plantation near Ban Tha Phae in Moo 1 village in tambon Tha Khanun. They were waiting to be transported further inside the country.
During questioning ,the migrants of the two groups said that after crossing the border into Sangkhla Buri district they proceeded by boats across the reservoir of Vajiralongkorn dam and landed at Ban Tha Phae. There, they were met by the two drivers.
They were to pay 60,000 baht each to job brokers on arriving at their workplaces in Malaysia.
Later at about 8am, 13 migrants were spotted hiding in the forest near Ban Huay Nam Khao, Moo 12 village in tambon Ban Kao of Muang district.
The 95 migrants were handed over to police in Thong Pha Phum and Muang districts for legal proceedings and charged with illegal entry.
The two drivers were charged with helping foreigners who entered the country illegally.