Northern cops nab 46 illegals

Forty-six Myanmar nationals were arrested by a government patrol for illegal entry on Saturday, authorities said.

Col Veerachai Phongkaew, commander of the 4th Cavalry Regiment, said a patrol from the 3rd Cavalry Company found 19 men, 20 women and seven children, all Myanmar nationals, gathered near Ban Luang, Moo 5 village in tambon Mae Ngon.

They had slipped into Thailand in Fang district via a natural border crossing earlier on New Year’s Day, he said. They had paid 20,000 to 26,000 baht each to brokers in Myanmar for jobs in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.