NAKHON SAWAN: Three Thai drivers have been arrested after 14 Chinese nationals who entered the country illegally were found in their vehicles in Muang district of this northern province.
Police stopped a Toyota Camry, a Toyota Altis bearing a sticker of the army's development division and a Toyota Fortuner bearing the police emblem, all with Bangkok licence plates, for alcohol testing at a checkpoint on North-bound Phahonyothin Road in Muang district on Wednesday morning.
The officers noticed all the vehicles had many passengers who acted suspiciously. The officers came to talk to the passengers and learned that all of them were Chinese. They were asked to exit the vehicles and show their passports, but none of them had any documents. The Chinese and the three Thai drivers were detained for questioning.
The drivers - two men and one woman - were identified as Phuphon Chornluang, Thawee Phothiwan and Kanticha Chunlan, said Pol Col Kiartisak Khonphutsa, deputy chief of Nakhon Sawan police.
During questioning, the three drivers told police that they earned their living by providing transporting services to foreign tourists and denied any involvement in smuggling illegal migrants.
The drivers told police that they had been hired by a Thai whose name was not known to pick up the Chinese nationals from Bangkok to a hotel in Chiang Mai. They had been paid different rates - the driver with the Fortuner was paid 10,000 baht, the Camry driver 8,000 baht and the Altis driver 6,000 baht.
However, the officers were not convinced by their remarks. They believed the suspects might be members of a gang smuggling Chinese nationals to border areas in the North to work in a neighbouring country.
Arthong Naju, who was called to be an interpreter during the police questioning, said the Chinese nationals claimed they were tourists wanting to visit Thailand, particularly Chiang Mai. They had travelled by train from their country and then entered Thailand. However, they did not give details how they entered the country. All had no entry documents, but only had their Chinese ID cards, said the interpreter.
Police initially pressed charges against the three Thais for assisting or helping illegal migrants evade arrests. All Chinese nationals were charged with illegal entry. They were later taken to the provincial immigration office for entry checks. All had no records of entering the country. They were held in police custody for further interrogation and legal proceedings.