32 migrants ‘hid in palm orchard’

Thirtytwo illegal migrants from Myanmar were found hiding in a palm orchard in the province’s Muang district yesterday. Officers from the Surasee Task Force and immigration police went to investigate the orchard following a tip-off and discovered 32 Myanmar migrants hiding in the area.

An official said the migrants came in from the Tenasserim Hills area, a Thai-Myanmar natural border, adding the workers, aged 20–40, attempted to flee when officers approached them. They were charged with illegally entering the country, and two suspected traffickers, who refused to name their Thai associates, were arrested.

The suspects were said to have travelled from Myanmar’s Yangon, Mergui and Dawei before they were smuggled into Thailand. Kanapol Saisakol, a village head in Muang, said he recently suspected a trafficker was operating in the area after seeing suspiciously large amounts of food and beverages being bought.