Young man caught smuggling illegal Burmese workers into Thailand for 24,000 baht

A 20 year old man was apprehended for smuggling illegal Burmese workers into the country.

This marks the fourth time the suspect has been caught in the act. The authorities are preparing to repatriate the workers and proceed with legal action against the suspect.

The intensification of vehicle inspections by highway patrol officers led to the arrest of the young man. Around 10.30pm yesterday, December 11, Ayutthaya Highway Patrol officers were conducting preventative checks on Phahonyothin Road.

Upon noticing a truck with characteristics similar to a heavy goods vehicle but with an empty cargo bed, they initiated a stop. Instead, the vehicle attempted to escape, leading to a pursuit which resulted in the successful halting of the vehicle.

The vehicle was driven by 20 year old Pholwat (surname withheld) from Tak province. Within the vehicle, the officers discovered 12 Burmese workers crammed tightly together. None of the workers had any travel documents or equivalents.

Upon questioning, Pholwat confessed to being hired by a Burmese man to pick up the workers from Wang Chao district in Tak and transport them to Bangkok. For this task, he was paid 24,000 baht. This was the fourth time Pholwat had been hired for such a job and was the first time he had been caught by the police.

The workers revealed they had been lured to work in Thailand and had travelled into the country via natural channels, crossing in the Mae Sot district, Tak. Each worker had paid between 15,000 and 20,000 baht for the journey, reported KhaoSod.

The police handed over Pholwat and the workers to the investigators at Wang Noi Police Station in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya for further legal proceedings. The police coordinated with immigration officials in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya to facilitate the repatriation of the workers back to their home country.

In related news, officers from Suvarnabhumi Animal Quarantine at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok arrested a Taiwanese man for animal smuggling on December 5. Read more about this story HERE.