Kanchanaburi: Soldiers from the Lat Ya Task Force, Surasee Battalion, arrested a foreign individual who entered Thailand and confessed to paying a 70,000 baht fee to use the country as a transit route to work in Malaysia.
According to Thai News Agency, Maj. Gen. Atsadawut Panyarachun, Commander of the 9th Infantry Division and Commander of the Surasee Task Force, collaborated with Mr. Athisak Intra, Governor of Kanchanaburi Province, after receiving intelligence about illegal smuggling of foreign workers. They instructed Col. Pansak Priewphanit, Commander of the 29th Infantry Regiment, and Col. Piyanes Phatthasasawatwong, Deputy Commander of the Lat Ya Task Force, alongside the 135th Border Patrol Police Company and Thong Pha Phum Police Station, to conduct patrols in Ban Wang Kiang, Tha Khanun Subdistrict, Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province.
At 6:00 a.m., security officers spotted a suspicious pickup truck with license plate Bor 8400 Kanchanaburi, reported by an informant, driving from Sangkhla Buri District to Mueang Kanchanaburi District. When signaled to stop for inspection, the driver attempted to flee but abandoned the vehicle and escaped into a nearby forest. Despite efforts, officers could not apprehend the driver. Upon inspecting the vehicle, they discovered 29 foreign individuals (16 men, 13 women) without identification documents.
Through an interpreter, it was revealed that the group had traveled from Yangon Province, Myanmar, intending to use Thailand as a transit to Malaysia. They illegally crossed through a natural passage at Ban Bo Yipun and proceeded via a detour behind the joint checkpoint at Nam Krik, Village 9, Nong Lu Subdistrict, Sangkhla Buri District. An unidentified motorcyclist transported them to a pier at Ban Khanun Khli, Pilok Subdistrict, Thong Pha Phum District, where they were picked up by the aforementioned vehicle. Each had paid a broker 70,000 baht at their destination. However, their journey was halted by the authorities, who took them and the evidence to Thong Pha Phum Police Station for further legal action.