22 Cambodian migrants nabbed in Aranyaprathet

Authorities yesterday arrested 22 illegal migrant workers from Cambodia found packed in a van in Aranyaprathet district of the eastern border province of Sa Kaeo.

Pol Lt Col Benjapol Rodsawat, superintendent of Sa Kaeo immigration police, was alerted by Capt Apinan Songkramchai, commander of Paramilitary Ranger Company 1201, yesterday morning that a deserted house in Soi 1 of Ban Wang Platong in tambon Aranyaprathet was a suspected hideout for illegal migrant workers taking shelter.

Following the tip-off, immigration officers and rangers secretly encircled the area where the house is located. A white Toyota van with a Bangkok licence plate was seen approaching and stopping at the house.

According to officers, many Cambodian workers then ran out of the house and quickly got inside the vehicle. But the van was stopped by officials before it had a chance to speed off.

The van driver, identified as Wichai Wairon, 46, was apprehended at the scene.

Officers found 22 people, including 12 females, crammed inside the vehicle. Neither travel documents nor work permits were found on them. They were taken to Aranyaprathet police station for further questioning, officials added.

According to authorities, the arrested Cambodians said they were from Cambodia’s border provinces of Banteay Meanchey and Battambang. They crossed into Thailand and intended to find work in Bangkok and Chon Buri, officers said.

They said a Cambodian agent took them into Thailand and kept them at the house, waiting for a van to transport them to work in Bangkok and Chon Buri, officers said. The Cambodians said they paid 800 baht each to the traffickers.