SONGKHLA: Fifteen illegal migrants from Myanmar hoping to get jobs in Malaysia and a Thai driver were arrested in Rattaphum district of this southern border province on Thursday.
Officers from the Immigration Bureau and the Highway Police Division intercepted a suspected van at a checkpoint in tambon Khuha Tai.
A search found 12 men and three women, including a child, inside the vehicle. All were illegal migrants from Myanmar.
The van driver, identified only as Somsak, 55, was arrested along with the 15 migrants. Earlier, investigators from Songkhla Immigration obtained information that illegal migrants were being smuggled from Myanmar into Malaysia via this southern province.
During questioning, the driver said he was hired to transport the migrants from Surat Thani to Hat Yai and Na Thawi districts of Songkhla, where they would be picked up in exchange for 800 baht per person.
The migrants told the arresting team that they entered Thailand through a natural border crossing in Tak province, paying job brokers 5 million kyat (about 80,400 baht) each for promises of employment in Malaysia.
All migrants and the Thai driver were taken to Rattaphum police station for legal action, and the van was seized.
Authorities said they would extend the investigation to arrest others involved in the smuggling operation.
Fifteen Myanmar nationals - 12 men and three women - are found inside a van intercepted at a highway checkpoint in Songkhla on Thursday. (Photo: Assawin Pakkawan)