Police arrested a Thai van driver after finding 43 undocumented Myanmar migrants crammed inside his vehicle following a chase in Kanchanaburi yesterday, August 5.
The operation took place at around 5am after police and other security agencies received intelligence that a smuggling network was transporting undocumented migrants through Kanchanaburi.
Officers later spotted a white van travelling along the Kanchanaburi to Erawan Waterfall road in Mueang district and signalled for the driver to stop. Instead, the driver sped towards Bo Phloi district before losing control and crashing onto the central reservation.
The driver attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended by police. He was identified as 34 year old Woraphan, from Bangkok.
A search of the van found 43 Myanmar nationals, none of whom were able to produce passports or other travel documents.
Through an interpreter, the migrants told police they had crossed into Thailand through a natural route from Payathonsu in Myanmar into Sangkhla Buri before travelling through Thong Pha Phum and Mueang districts in Kanchanaburi.
They said they intended to find work in Thailand and Malaysia and had each paid 96,000 to 100,000 baht for the journey.
Thairath reported that the group said Woraphan had collected them from a pomelo orchard in Prang Phle subdistrict, Sangkhla Buri district, and was transporting them to Hat Yai district in Songkhla province when they were arrested.
Woraphan told police he had been hired by a man known only as Spire, whom he contacted by phone, to collect the migrants and transport them to Hat Yai. He said he was promised 2,500 baht per person upon completing the journey.
Police charged Woraphan with assisting undocumented migrants to evade arrest by providing transportation and shelter. The 43 Myanmar nationals were charged with entering and remaining in Thailand illegally before being handed over to investigators at Bo Phloi Police Station for legal proceedings.
In similar news, in a significant crackdown on illegal immigration, 200 Myanmar migrants were deported from Ranong as part of Thailand’s ongoing efforts to address the influx of undocumented workers.
The group, consisting of 198 men and two women, were repatriated after undergoing legal proceedings and voluntarily joining the government’s repatriation programme.
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