111 Thais repatriated from Myanmar

Ten returnees arrested on local warrants after being brought back to Chiang Rai

111 Thais repatriated from Myanmar
The Thai returnees arrived back via the border crossing between Mae Sai in Chiang Rai and Tachileik in Myanmar. (Photo: Solynn via Wikimedia Commons)

Another 111 Thai nationals, who had been stranded amid fighting in northern Shan State of Myanmar, returned to Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on Friday with help from the Myanmar authorities.

The 111 returnees were handed over to Thai authorities by Col Thura Zaw Lwin Soe, tactical operations commander for Tachileik, the border town opposite Mae Sai.

They were greeted on arrival by Col Natee Timsen, commander of the Thap Chao Tak Task Force of the Pha Muang Force, as Thai chairman of the Thailand-Myanmar Township Border Committee, and other officials.

The returnees were the fourth group of Thais repatriated overland from Myanmar, raising the total to 179, signifying the strong relations between the armies of the two countries.

After going through the disease screening and immigration process, 10 of the returnees — eight men and two women — who are wanted on arrest warrants in the country were handed over to Mae Sai police.

The rest were taken to temporary shelters. The men were sheltered at the territorial defence volunteer company headquarters and the women at the New Life Centre Foundation in Muang district of Chiang Rai, where they will undergo further questioning.