14 Myanmar nationals have been caught illegally sneaking into the country in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhla Buri district on Saturday.
A military patrol was deployed to an area near La Salle Sangkhlaburi School following a tip-off that a group of illegal migrants were hiding nearby, Col Chalermphol Sangtong, deputy commander of the Lat Ya Task Force, said on Saturday morning.
They found 8 men and 6 women hiding in a pomelo plantation. After temperature checks as a precaution against COVID-19, all were normal and they were sent to Sangkhla Buri Hospital for further checks.
During the interrogation, the group said they had travelled from Mawlamyine and other areas in Myanmar. They had contacted a Myanmar job broker, identified only as Mr Vee, who had promised to find them work in Thailand.
They had been asked to gather at Payatongzu district near the Thai border at around 10 am on Friday. The broker later sent two Myanmar teenagers to take them across the border via a natural pass and then over the Song Kalia stream.
They were asked to hide in the pomelo plantation pending transport to their workplaces in Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Suphan Buri and Nakhon Pathom.
One of the migrants knew the workplace he was being sent to but the 13 others did not know where they were to be taken. However, all had been asked to pay the broker between 12,000 and 16,000 baht each after they arrived at their workplaces.
They were taken to the Sangkhla Buri police station pending legal action before being sent back to Myanmar.
