Burmese boys escape detention center

PHUKET TOWN: Three Burmese boys escaped from the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center near Saphan Hin early yesterday morning. Two were recaptured within hours but the third is still at large. The escape, according to Pongsura Krainara, the center’s chief, took place at around 6 am when the three boys were detailed to help a guard at the center carry out the trash. While the four were walking towards a dumpster outside the center, the boys took off. The guard pursued them, but was unable to catch them. Three hours later, two of the juveniles were found hiding in mangroves around Klong Koh Pi in Saphan Hin. The other has not been seen since. Asked for more details of the boys, K. Pongsura told the Gazette, “We don’t have their names or their exact ages because we can’t communicate with them.” Pongsura also told the Gazette that the punishment waiting for the two recaptured juveniles will be five strokes with a cane. There are currently about 50 juveniles in the center, most of them Thais. Only seven or eight are Burmese, most of them awaiting repatriation after being arrested for illegal entry into Thailand.