135 Myanmar nationals held in separate cases in Kanchanaburi

>> A total of 135 Myanmar nationals, including four children, have been arrested for allegedly entering the country illegally in two separate cases in Kanchanaburi province.

Pol Col Pattarachai Korsanan, deputy commander of the provincial police, and investigative superintendent Pol Col Mana Samrarnwong were alerted by a civilian on Friday about 5pm about a suspicious pickup truck heading towards Kanchanaburi’s Muang district along Highway 323, near the border between Thong Pha Phum and Sai Yok districts.

Police said two officers leading a team were then deployed to set up checkpoints along the highway to intercept the pickup truck.

The officers were able to stop the truck at about 6.30pm, police said.

While searching the vehicle, the officers found 58 Myanmar labourers, including 10 women, hidden in the back, police said.

The driver, identified as Kajorn Prakobtham, was arrested and sent to Sai Yok police station for interrogation, along with the 58 labourers. He was then charged with smuggling aliens into the country.

In another case, Col Suradech Mekanuwong, deputy commanding general of the 9th Infantry Division’s Ladya military task force, said he was informed yesterday at 2.30am that many alien workers were hiding in a jungle in Thong Pha Phum’s tambon Tha Khanun.

He worked with local officals to search the area and found 77 Myanmar aliens, including four children, hiding in the jungle, he said.

The aliens told a translator they were fleeing the ongoing war in their country, he said.

They used a natural border path to avoid police checkpoints and headed to Phra Chedi Sam-ong village Moo 9 in Sangkhla Buri district’s tambon Nong Lu in Kanchanaburi.

They said they were travelling with a middleman to get to the village and were waiting for another middleman to take them to their workplaces in other provinces, including Bangkok, he said.

He said they each planned to pay the middlemen up to 20,000 baht after reaching their destinations. Both Myanmar groups were charged with unauthorised entry to the country and will be deported back to their home country.