PUBLISHED : 12 Aug 2023 at 04:20
Mae Hong Son: Three Thai men were arrested on Thursday night for allegedly smuggling Myanmar refugees out of a temporary shelter after 10 illegal migrants, including five children, were found in their vehicles, police said on Friday.
Police and local authorities set up a checkpoint on Highway 1337 in tambon Mae Kee in Khun Yuam district following a tip-off that some Myanmar refugees had sneaked out of the shelter.
They stopped two pick-up trucks, both with Chiang Mai licence plates, that were following each other for a search and found several passengers in the vehicles.
Three men, including the drivers of the two pick-up trucks, were Thai nationals identified as Anai, 38, Sangworn, 21 and Anurak, 54. The others — six adults and four children aged between 5-14 — had no documents but could speak Thai.
They told police that they took shelter at a camp in tambon Mae Ko near the border after fleeing fighting in Myanmar, and they were on their way to see their relatives in Mae Song Song’s Mae La Noi district.
Mr Anai admitted that he picked up these illegal migrants near the shelter and planned to drop them off near Ban Mae Kee, where the migrants would then contact their relatives to pick them up.
Mr Anai said he had helped Myanmar refugees sneak out of the shelter area twice, and each time he was contacted by the refugees who had his contact number because he delivered relief supplies to the centre.
Police said they charged Mr Anai and his two assistants with aiding illegal migrants from being arrested, adding this could be part of a larger network.