KANCHANABURI: Fifty-eight Myanmar nationals have been arrested after illegally crossing the border into Thong Pha Phum district on Thursday morning.
Local officials, soldiers and police found the 45 men and 13 women hiding in a forested area near a reservoir in tambon Tha Khanum of the border district at around 6am, said Chakrit Tanpiroon, chief of Thong Pha Phum district.
All were Myanmar nationals without travel documents.
During questioning, they told authorities that they had paid 15,000 to 25,000 baht each to job brokers for promised work in Thailand.
All were handed over to local police for legal action.
It was the second arrest of illegal border crossers in the area in just over a week. On March 13, authorities detained 22 illegal migrants — 17 men and five women — in Thong Pha Phum district.
The Myanmar nationals said they had paid between 13,000 and 15,000 baht each to brokers for jobs in Thailand. They had crossed the border illegally and were waiting for transport to their places of work.