PRACHAUP KHIRI KHAN, June 7 (TNA) – Twenty three illegal
migrants from Myanmar were arrested while camping in a forest in Thailand’s
Prachaup Khiri Khan province and waiting for transport to Malaysia.
Nineteen males and four females aged 18-38 from Rakhine
State crammed inside a sport utility car when Thai authorities stopped them
near Thai-Myanmar border early Friday morning.
Officials said the undocumented migrants paid money to a
“labor agent” in Myanmar Bt18,000 each to take them to Malaysia.
Village head of Au Noi Sa-nga Klapklai said local security
volunteers reported the suspicious vehicle failing to stop at checkpoints. Back-up forces were able to block the
vehicle but the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled away, he said.
The migrants would be charged for illegal entry while
investigation was underway to implicate smugglers, he said.
Many attempts to smuggle Myanmar migrants to Malaysia have
recently been intercepted in Thailand.(TNA)