Twenty-six illegal migrants from Myanmar and a Thai smuggler were arrested after the migrants were found crammed inside an enclosed box in the bed of a pickup truck on a road in Muang district of Chumphon province early Wednesday morning.
A patrol of highway police spotted a suspicious pickup truck with Bangkok licence plates overtaking their vehicle along Rural Highway No 4058 in tambon Na Thung around 3.30am.
The officers signalled the driver to pull over for a search, said Pol Lt Col Kla Sombatpiboon, chief of Highway Police Subdivision 4, as he ordered inspections along secondary roads in their jurisdiction in this southern province.
The driver, identified only as Phichit, 35, was questioned.
Inside the truck bed, police found 26 migrants, including men and women, with no entry documents. The truck had a ventilation fan.
Mr Phichit told the officers he was hired to smuggle them from Ratchaburi to Rattaphum district in Songkhla for 50,000 baht, using a secondary coastal route to avoid patrols along the main Phetkasem Highway.
The driver was charged with helping illegal migrants evade arrest, and the migrants with illegal entry.
All were taken to Muang Chumphon police station for legal action.