Border patrols to step up

The government has ordered provincial authorities to tighten up security along the border to stem the flow of illegal drugs and migrant workers from neighbouring countries, which have increased despite repeated crackdowns.

According to government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, in response to the spike in such incidents, Prime Minister Prayut Chano-cha has ordered security agencies in border provinces to beef up their monitoring of entry points and natural crossings.

On Wednesday, about 756,000 methamphetamine pills were seized in Ban Phaeng Tai in Nakhon Phanom.

Meanwhile, 34 Myanmar nationals — 14 men, 16 women, two boys and two girls — were detained by the Pha Muang task force in Ban Nong Bua

Kham in Chiang Mai’s Fang district, he said.

They told the authorities they intended to travel to Bangkok for work, he said. Pha Muang task force, which operates in 24 districts across six northern provinces, has detained 833 illegal migrants in 83 crackdowns since October last year, said Maj Gen Narit Thawonwong, commander of the task force.

Among those arrested were 630 Myanmar nationals, six Lao and 15 Chinese migrants, who were detained following 36 operations in Chiang Mai — which suggests the province has the worst illegal entry problem in the North.

Meanwhile, in the northeastern province of Nong Khai, which shares a 220-kilometre-long border with Laos, 3,244 illegal migrants were detained by authorities last year — of whom 2,392 were Lao nationals and 12 were Vietnamese, said governor Monsit Phaisanthanawat.