135 Myanmar nationals arrested for illegal entry in Kanchanaburi

Police in Kanchanaburi province have apprehended a total of 135 Myanmar nationals, including four juveniles, on charges of illegal entry into the country. The arrests were made in two separate operations.

Deputy commander of the provincial police, Pattarachai Korsanan, along with investigative superintendent Mana Samrarnwong, received a tip-off on Friday around 5pm from a local about a suspicious pickup truck heading towards the Mueang district of Kanchanaburi. The vehicle was travelling on Highway 323, close to the border, bifurcating Thong Pha Phum and Sai Yok districts.

Following the tip, a team of officers promptly set up checkpoints along the highway to intercept the suspicious vehicle. Around 6.30pm, the officers successfully halted the pickup truck for inspection. Upon a thorough search, the team discovered 58 Myanmar labourers, inclusive of ten women, hidden in the back of the vehicle.

The truck driver, identified as Kajorn Prakobtham, was immediately arrested alongside the labourers and transported to Sai Yok police station for further questioning. He faces charges of illegal smuggling into the country.

Concurrently, Suradech Mekanuwong, deputy commanding general of the 9th Infantry Division’s Ladya military task force, was notified yesterday around 2.30am about a group of foreign workers hiding in a jungle in the Tha Khanun region of Thong Pha Phum.

Collaborating with local officials, they conducted a search operation in the designated area. The operation resulted in the discovery of 77 additional Myanmar nationals, including four children, concealed within the jungle.

These individuals confessed to a translator that they were escaping the ongoing conflict in their home country. They admitted to utilising a natural border path to elude police checkpoints and were on their way to Phra Chedi Sam-ong village Moo 9 in the Nong Lu tambon of Sangkhla Buri district in Kanchanaburi.

The group revealed that they were guided by a middleman to the village and were anticipating another middleman who would transport them to their workplaces in various provinces, including Bangkok. They had intended to remunerate the middlemen up to 20,000 baht (US$ 550) upon reaching their respective destinations, reported Bangkok Post.

Like the previously apprehended group, these Myanmar nationals were also charged with unauthorised entry and are set to be deported back to their home country.