18 illegal Myanmar migrants, Thai woman land in jail despite offer of bribe

[snoop1130]

18 illegal Myanmar migrants, Thai woman land in jail despite offer of bribe

By THE NATION

 

 

The Kanchanaburi Volunteer Defence Corps nabbed 18 Myanmar nationals on Tuesday (July 21) as they were trying to enter Thailand illegally via the Vajiralongkorn Water Reservoir in Nong Lu subdistrict. A Thai woman was also arrested for allegedly running the operation.

 

Kanchanaburi resident Kornnipha Amorndechakorn, 49, was stopped by officials on Tuesday evening just as she was driving her black Toyota pick-up truck away from the reservoir. Upon searching the vehicle, officials found 18 Myanmar nationals hiding on board.

 

Kornnipha reportedly offered Bt70,000 to the officials to let her go, but her offer was rejected, and she and the migrants were taken to Sangkhlaburi Police Station for legal proceedings.

 

Initial investigation showed that the truck was registered to Kanchanaburi resident Sakchai Surakiatchai, and police are looking to see if he may be an accomplice.

 

One migrant reportedly told police that they were heading to Bangkok to find work and had paid Bt7,500 per head to a Thai agency that promised to bring them across the border.

 

Pakorn Kanwanlee, Sangkhlaburi district chief, applauded the defence corps for turning down the bribe and upholding the law, especially at a time when enhanced border surveillance is required.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30391748

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-07-22

 

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[tracker1]

2 choices ! Either way they were very honest or the offer of a bribe wasn't high enough ! now it is in the polices hands things might end up differently ! just saying

Edited July 22, 2020 by tracker1

[Mavideol]

very low (70k) bribe, standard price usually comes at 10K per worker thus 10k x 18 = 180 K then they may had accepted 555

[craighj]

18 people “hiding” in the back of her Toyota pick up ????????????

[baansgr]

7 minutes ago, craighj said:

18 people “hiding” in the back of her Toyota pick up ????????????

The job offer was in pantomime, Snow White and the seven dwarfs...

[LawrenceN]

"Thai woman land in jail despite offer of bribe"

 

I'll be impressed the day the headline says "because of the bribe offer." Add attempted bribery to the list of charges. 

[ChipButty]

Serious charge in the UK trying to bribe a police officer, maybe the offer wasn't enough 

[Mak25]

So I understand the news here is they land in jail despite the bribe offer.

[Hayduke]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

18 illegal Myanmar migrants, Thai woman land in jail despite offer of bribe

 

For a transaction of this type, a 70 K ‘incentive payment’ is terribly insulting.

 

Vigilant, hardworking government officials risk their lives protecting the homeland against evil foreigners. They deserve fair and appropriate compensation for their selfless, heroic efforts.

 

This now the “New Normal Bribery”...and wrongdoers cannot expect discounts.

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Hayduke

[tonray]

9 minutes ago, Hayduke said:

 

For a transaction of this type, a 70 K ‘incentive payment’ is outright insulting.

 

The vigilant, hardworking police risk their lives enforcing the law and protecting the homeland against evil foreigners and the deadly Wuhan Flu. They deserve appropriate  compensation for their selfless, heroic efforts.

 

Remember… this is now the “New Normal Bribery”.

 

 

 

Yeah...the going rate is 10K per migrant...

[ChakaKhan]

I recall coming back from Mae Sai- Burma border run for a visa jump, coming back to Cm as I would do it in one day and it was a long day--11 hrs.....

 

Anyhoo they did the usual police checkpoints coming back before CR, and I always wondered why they never asked me or that I should be a spy or drug runner as I always got the pass on the bus shakedowns.....So I always sat in the back and I remember a burmese guy palmed some baht off to a lady cop....then we got to the next stop and they pulled him off, as if the lady called it in to the next checkpoint and kept the baht...

 

Sucked to be that guy that day......and my last visa run they finally asked for my passport...so much for that..

[hotchilli]

Time for Thailand to be put back on the trafficking watch list...

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, ChakaKhan said:

...then we got to the next stop and they pulled him off,

Usually they just get a cup of tea.

 

TIT I suppose.

[Misterwhisper]

18 hours ago, craighj said:

18 people “hiding” in the back of her Toyota pick up ????????????

Exactly what I've been thinking. How do you HIDE 18 (eighteen!!!) people in a pickup truck? Strapped to the undercarriage? Squeezed into the wheel bays? 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Misterwhisper

[sammieuk1]

A current location check of the 70k brown trousers off please???? 

[thequietman]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

on Tuesday evening just as she was driving her black Toyota pick-up truck away from the reservoir. Upon searching the vehicle, officials found 18 Myanmar nationals hiding on board.

Found them! So didn't spot 18 individuals at first glance?  LOL  ????

[PETERTHEEATER]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

just as she was driving her black Toyota pick-up truck away from the reservoir. Upon searching the vehicle, officials found 18 Myanmar nationals hiding on board

Thank goodness they made a thorough search or these scoundrels would have remained undetected.

[drbeach]

5 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

I recall coming back from Mae Sai- Burma border run for a visa jump, coming back to Cm as I would do it in one day and it was a long day--11 hrs.....

 

Anyhoo they did the usual police checkpoints coming back before CR, and I always wondered why they never asked me or that I should be a spy or drug runner as I always got the pass on the bus shakedowns.....So I always sat in the back and I remember a burmese guy palmed some baht off to a lady cop....then we got to the next stop and they pulled him off, as if the lady called it in to the next checkpoint and kept the baht...

 

Sucked to be that guy that day......and my last visa run they finally asked for my passport...so much for that..

Because it's the Burmese who are suspicious and likely to enter the country illegally for work, or be drug runners not farang. We come from rich countries. Sometimes Thais do have more common sense than us westerners, who due to political correctness pretend that an 80 year old white woman is as much of a terrorist threat than a 26-year old Arab male just because we're too scared to offend.

 

In Thailand - no such issues. Be glad that they aren't targeting us more. It's already bad enough with all the "no foreigners" allowed in places in recent times (like golf courses and before that, national parks and buses). And the dual pricing.

[drbeach]

A pretty dumb woman to be pulling this stunt at a time like this.

 

She could have brought these illegals in anytime BEFORE the crisis and border closures began and perhaps gotten away with it after paying a bribe. Perhaps. But these are unprecedented times.

 

While I've been able to make unofficial entries into Myanmar in the past without issue (the 30km road through Myanmar territory that acts as a shortcut when traveling between Umphang and Tak for instance), crossing into Waley over the footbridge manned by Thai soldiers and also forays to the casinos in Myawaddy by using the cross-border boat service, there is NO WAY I'd attempt anything like that as long as the current state of emergency and disease control measures remain in place.

 

There is also a chance some of these "natural border crossings" will be closed permanently and everyone made to go through official channels even after covid restrictions are eased, citing national security (the Waley footbridge might remain open, since it's guarded by Thai soldiers and doesn't seem to present much of an issue).

 

Aside from the convenient 30km shortcut road I described, which the Thai and Myanmar governments might in future recognize formally as a means to facilitate faster transportation between the aforementioned areas, I have already resigned myself to the fact that moving forward, such unofficial entries into neighboring countries are likely to become a thing of the past in the future. No big deal though - assuming borders reopen and drop all the current restrictions, it will be easy enough to cross using official channels as usual.