Nong Khai immigration police yesterday arrested 15 Vietnamese migrants crammed in a van driven by a Thai man.
The migrants were discovered in the vehicle when it was stopped by police on Mittraphap Road in Nong Khai at 4.30am yesterday.
Police said they stopped the van driven by Banpot Naemkoontod, 48, from Pathum Thani, following a tip-off.
Of the 15 Vietnamese, 10 are male and five are female aged between 19 and 30. Eleven of them were found to have overstayed while the rest had no legal travel documents.
Mr Banpot, who was charged with assisting the illegal immigrants, allegedly told police he was paid 15,000 baht each time he transported migrants to their destination.
One of the migrants, identified as Nguyen Van Dong, 26, told police he and the other Vietnamese migrants are from poor families in Ha Tihn province of Vietnam and they decided to work in Bangkok.
At first, they held valid passports. But when their passports expired, they did not have enough money to renew them, which costs 3,000 baht.
They wanted to go back to their hometown to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year on Feb 18 so they asked Mr Banpot to give them a ride.