126 Burmese migrants seeking jobs arrested in Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai for illegal entry
Thai border authorities arrested 126 people from Myanmar for allegedly crossing the Thai border illegally on Sunday, evading the mandatory quarantine and immigration screening. The arrested people had reportedly crossed into Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi provinces. Four men and eight women were caught in Sangkhala Buri District, while patrols found 38 men and 38 women hiding in bushes next to a pineapple plantation in Sai Yok District on Sunday.
In Chiang Mai, the Fa Meuang force patrol found 19 men and 21 women in Fang District. Arrested individuals said they had intended to travel to Bangkok, Nakhon Prathom, and Samut Sakhon, for jobs they had been promised. Some had paid or promised to pay high fees of 5,000 to 20,000 baht to agents in order to get to Thailand. The job seekers were set to be deported after legal processes.
Dozens of migrants have been detained just about on a weekly basis for crossing into Thailand illegally, most in search of jobs that had been promised to them. Just last Thursday, a total of 152 Burmese job seekers were arrested in Kanchanaburi while another 17 were found on a long-tailed boat trying to enter Ranong in southern Thailand.
Source: Bangkok Post
