Published: 4:30 on November 6, 2023.
As the conflict between the Myanmar junta and regional ethnic militias intensifies, the government is developing plans to return 162 Thai people who are imprisoned in Myanmar’s Shan status via Kunming in China, according to assistant police chief Surachate Hakparn yesterday.
The way, according to Pol Gen Surachate, was chosen to handle their relocation because the condition in Laukkaing, which is near the Chinese border in north Shan state, is deteriorating. This decision was made verbally during a recent discussion with Chinese and Myanmar authorities.
The deputy federal authorities chief is expected to visit Yangon today to work out the specifics for the return of the 29 Thais who were tricked into working as swindlers by human smugglers and ended up in Myanmar.
These patients were trafficked by gangs of Taiwanese criminals.
When they arrived in Laukkaing, the capital of the Kokang self-aggrandized territory, their visas were seized, making it impossible for them to keep the border town that had been hit by the conflict, he claimed.
They were rescued by Myanmar officials on Saturday from a resort in Laukkaing, where they had been hiding ever since they managed to get away from their criminals.
They joined 133 another Thais who had been rescued from smugglers in October after being taken to a house at the nearby military camp.
When Pol Gen Surachate gets to Yangon, he’ll go see the Thai soldiers’ defense station where they’re staying while they wait to be repatriated.
However, he did first meet with Myanmar authorities to discuss the most secure method of returning the stranded Thai citizens.
It would be safer to return the Thais via Kunming in China across the frontier as there has been reportedly furious battle between the Burmese army and military ethnic militias in the area. According to Pol Gen Surachate, it would be simpler to handle planes from Kunming.
All Siamese citizens in this group, according to a cause from an international anti-human trafficking organization, were safe and sound.
The Royal Thai Embassy in Yangon had teamed up with Myanmar authorities to save the Thais and give them safe protection, according to a post made earlier on Friday by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on X( previously Twitter ).
According to official Chai Wacharonke, he even gave state agencies instructions to deliver all Thais home safely and with immediate assistance.