SONGKHLA: Thai authorities arrested 61 Myanmar nationals, including children, for illegal entry at a resort near the Thai-Malaysia border in Hatyai, Songkhla.
Thunglung police chief Pol. Col. Sanya Thongsawat said the undocumented Myanmar nationals comprised of 32 females and 29 males aged between nine and 17 years old who were heading to Malaysia to meet their family members and look for jobs.
In a joint operation on Friday night, he said they were hiding in three rooms in the resort.
“They are required to pay 150,000 baht (RM19,000) each to travel from Myanmar to Malaysia. Part of the payment was made by their family members who are already in Malaysia,” he told Bernama when contacted today.
He added that initial investigation found the group entering the kingdom via illegal border crossing to Kanchanaburi.
Later, they travelled from Kanchanaburi to Hatyai in six pickup trucks, he said.
Sanya said police also arrested a 39-year-old Thai man who was one of the pickup truck drivers. - Bernama