Kanchanaburi —
At 1:00 AM on December 11th, 2024, Thong Pha Phum police and relevant agencies in Kanchanaburi, arrested 84 illegal immigrants from Myanmar’s Rakhine State, who had entered Thailand through an unauthorized route.
Acting on a tip-off, authorities found an abandoned pickup truck blocking the road with its license plates obscured. In the truck bed, multiple bags were found, likely belonging to the immigrants, according to the police.
Following a search of the nearby forest, police discovered the group of immigrants hiding. The group, which included men and women, had no documents or Thai language skills.
The immigrants revealed they had crossed the Myanmar-Thailand border and traveled through the jungle to reach a river port in Sangkhla Buri, where they were transported by boat to the pick-up point.
The immigrants, who had allegedly paid human traffickers 75,000 baht each for their journey, were attempting to pass through Thailand on their way to Malaysia for work. Authorities also detained the driver of the pickup truck, who was later identified as one of the smugglers. The truck was seized for further investigation.
All the arrested individuals were handed over to the local police for questioning, and legal proceedings are set to follow.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
