
KANCHANABURI — A total of 169 illegal migrants from Myanmar were arrested on Friday morning after being found crammed into a trailer truck in Thong Pha Phum district. Two Thai smugglers were also apprehended.
Local officials, soldiers and border patrol police stopped a 22-wheel trailer truck for inspection at a road checkpoint in tambon Tha Khanum around 7.40am. Authorities had received a tip-off about suspected illegal migrants boarding a Kanchanaburi-registered trailer truck travelling from Sangkhla Buri district to inner areas, said Thong Pha Phum district chief Chakrit Tanphirun.
The search revealed 102 men and 67 women packed into the vehicle's bed and cabin. All were illegal migrants from Myanmar.
Two Thai men - driver Chinnakon Saensikhammuan and an accomplice identified only as Khem - were arrested. Both are residents of Kanchanaburi's Bo Phloi district.
Mr Chinnakon admitted to the arresting team that he and Mr Khem had been hired for 6,000 baht per trip to transport illegal migrants from a border area in Sangkha Buri to Muang district. He claimed this was his second trip.
The 169 illegal migrants and the two Thai suspects were handed over to Thong Pha Phum police for legal action.
Pol Lt Gen Naiwat Phadermchit, chief of the Provincial Police Region 7, said that authorities plan to extend the investigation to arrest those involved in the smuggling operation.