KANCHANABURI: Ninety-six illegal Rohingya migrants were arrested at a cassava plantation in Muang district early on Thursday morning, along with four Thai men who were picking them up before heading South.
Pol Maj Gen Saruti Khwaengsopha, commander of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, said the arrests followed a tip-off. The Rohingya were seen waiting on the roadside near Moo 5 village of tambon Nong Bua.
Police waited until four Thai men arrived in pickup trucks to collect their new charges, and then moved in and rounded them all up.
The arrested Thai men were identified as Charnchai Samkha, 32, Cheewanont Masa-a, 24, Adisak Insai, 24, and Pongsatwat Sermnok, 23.
Pol Maj Gen Saruti said the cassava plantation was used as a meeting point and the Thai men said a woman labour broker was paying them 100,000 baht to take the Rohingya to Hat Yai district of Songkhla.
Some of the migrants said they were from the Rakhine state and had to pay about 120,000 baht each for their trip through Thailand to promised jobs in Malaysia. They walked into Kanchanaburi using natural border crossings.