SA KAEO — A police-military unit in Aranyaprathet district has rounded up 81 illegal Cambodian migrant workers who claim they were looking for jobs after their hometowns were hit by drought.
The Cambodians were apprehended while hiding in a forest near a temple in Khlong Tan Chan sub-district on Wednesday morning. The group comprised 36 men, 28 women and 17 children. None of them had travel documents, Daily News quoted Lt Col Somjate Ponprasert of the 12th Rangers Regiment, head of the arresting team, as saying.
Jiam Suam, leader of the migrants, told officers he and others in the group were from Cambodia's Siem Reap province. Their hometown was hit hard by drought, making it impossible for them to farm. They decided to walk across the Thai–Cambodian border through Khao Doi Tao in Khlong Hat district on Tuesday night, and went on to the adjacent town of Aranyaprathet on foot.
Mr Jiam Suam claimed he and his compatriots wanted to find jobs through Aranyaprathet residents and send money back to their families.