Human Traffickers Cram Migrant Workers into Van: 2 Dead, 8 in Critical Condition

[Georgealbert]

 

 

Police Lieutenant Colonel Phakdi Tan-anukul of Lang Suan Police Station, Chumphon Province, received a report at approximately 12.00 on October 17, that a group of unconscious individuals had been found in a forest near Khao Seka Wanaram Temple, Village 4, Wang Tako Subdistrict, Lang Suan District. Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered two dead bodies and eight severely injured people among a total of ten individuals scattered in the area. All victims were migrant workers, later confirmed to be of Rohingya origin.

 

The police, along with rescue teams from Saichon Rescue Foundation, immediately transported the deceased and injured to Lang Suan Hospital and Thung Tako Hospital for treatment and autopsies. Investigations at the scene revealed numerous water bottles and deep tyre marks, suggesting a heavily loaded vehicle had been present.

 

 

 

Abbot Phra Athikarn Thada Kititharo of Khao Seka Wanaram Temple stated that earlier that morning, he noticed a group of people acting erratically near the temple. Upon closer inspection, he found several individuals in a distressed state, with some already dead. He promptly notified the authorities.

 

Local residents reported seeing a covered pickup truck in the area, but thought it was merely transporting goods. They were unaware of the tragic events unfolding until later.

 

Preliminary investigations suggest that the National Police Bureau had recently ordered stricter checkpoints in the area. To avoid detection, it is believed the human traffickers, transporting Rohingya workers from Mae Sot District in Tak Province to Songkhla Province, diverted from the main road into the forest to evade a checkpoint. The victims had been crammed into a closed pickup truck with no ventilation, leading to two deaths due to suffocation.

 

According to an interpreter, the group consisted of 26 Rohingya workers who had been smuggled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. After a harrowing 10 day boat journey along the Salween River, followed by a 10 day trek, they arrived in Mae Sot. Nearly 100 people had initially gathered there, but only those who could pay the traffickers were crammed into the van for the duration of the journey with no food or proper ventilation.

 

The group had been on the road for a day without food before the traffickers, realising that some of the migrants were dead or critically injured, abandoned them in the forest near the temple. They left the 10 victims behind and continued their journey toward Songkhla with the remaining migrants.

 

The police are continuing their investigation to track down the traffickers and ensure that those responsible for this tragedy are brought to justice.

 

Picture from responders.

-- 2024-10-18

 

  

[Tropicalevo]

Amazing that there are still such low-life's around to treat people like this.

Disgusting.

[brianthainess]

How people can treat other human beings like this is beyond me.......I hope they catch these THAI traffickers and give them full life  in a very small cell. 

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Nearly 100 people had initially gathered there, but only those who could pay the traffickers were crammed into the van for the duration of the journey with no food or proper ventilation.

Those who could not pay were the lucky ones, this is how bad their Junta is to go through a 20 day journey to escape, I suppose now the survivors will be sent back by the Thai govt. 

[Sydebolle]

It's big business, the going "rate" for a Philippine worker's paperwork - to be legal - comes at a "handling fee" of 70,000 Baht. They are more expensive to the rest, i.e. Khmer or Laotians; the cheapest are the Burmese (20,000 Baht) as they flee from their homeland due to a raging civil war. 

If this government would facilitate foreign workers taking up legal employment in Thailand, all this would have never happened. Thailand is sooooo short on labour on all educational levels and if they want to get their tourism going, then they will have to get those alien in to work at  restaurants, hotels and guest houses. 

 

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Preliminary investigations suggest that the National Police Bureau had recently ordered stricter checkpoints in the area. To avoid detection, it is believed the human traffickers, transporting Rohingya workers from Mae Sot District in Tak Province to Songkhla Province, diverted from the main road into the forest to evade a checkpoint. The victims had been crammed into a closed pickup truck with no ventilation, leading to two deaths due to suffocation.

And Thailand just got a seat on the humanitarian council... how fitting.

[Will B Good]

 

 

A  mini Tak Bai .....absolutely horrific......death penalty should suffice.

[Burma Bill]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Amazing that there are still such low-life's around to treat people like this.

Disgusting.

 

Yes indeed and I totally agree. 

Only the other day I stated "Thailand the hub of greed" in the article about "posh" hotels increasing their prices.

With these scum people traffickers and the likes of the iCON Group, it is about money, money, money and greed!

I now feel vindicated in my greed comment.

 

 

 

[Nick Carter icp]

6 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

 

 

Yes indeed and I totally agree. 

Only the other day I stated "Thailand the hub of greed" in the article about "posh" hotels increasing their prices.

With these scum people traffickers and the likes of the iCON Group, it is about money, money, money and greed!

I now feel vindicated in my greed comment.

 

   The price of hotels have gone up in every Country , its not about Thais being greedy 

[Georgealbert]

UPDATE
Two Human Trafficking Gang Members Arrested After Migrants Found Dead in Chumphon Forest

 

 

Police in Lang Suan District, Chumphon Province, announced on October 18 the arrest of two human traffickers responsible for cramming migrant workers into a sealed truck, resulting in three deaths. The bodies were found abandoned in a forested area near Khao Sek Wanaram Temple. Authorities are continuing their manhunt for a third suspect.

 

The incident came to light after ten Myanmar nationals were discovered in critical condition on October 17. Rescue workers rushed seven unconscious migrants to hospitals in Lang Suan, Paknam Lang Suan, and Thung Tako. Initially, two migrants were pronounced dead at the scene, and a third passed away later at Lang Suan Hospital. Only one individual escaped unscathed.

 

The survivor revealed that a total of 26 migrants, 21 men and five women, had been crammed into two trucks with sealed storage compartments. They had illegally crossed into Thailand through Mae Sot, Tak Province, on October 14, and were being transported to Songkhla Province before continuing to a neighboring country. Due to a lack of ventilation in the truck, the migrants began to suffocate and banged on the walls to get air. When the drivers stopped and opened the compartment, they discovered that several migrants had lost consciousness or died. Fearing the consequences, the drivers abandoned the dead and injured migrants in the forest and continued their journey with the remaining 16 people.

 

Police identified two of the suspects as Thawatchai and Phitak (last names withheld), who were driving Isuzu trucks registered in Samut Songkhram and Nong Khai. A third accomplice, Seksan (last name withheld), remains at large.

 

Following a coordinated investigation by Chumphon police and Highway Police, authorities apprehended Thawatchai and Phitak in Phetchaburi Province while attempting to flee to Bangkok. The two trucks used in the operation were seized as evidence, and the suspects were transferred back to Lang Suan Police Station for legal proceedings. The search for the third suspect continues, as police work to gather further evidence to bring him to justice.

 

Pictures courtesy of Khaosod.

 

-- 2024-10-18

 

 

[Dave0206]

It happens all over the world the amount of migrants that die trying to reach a " better place" usually for financial reasons to give there families a better quality of life.

I often think about the fact my family was relatively poor but I was born in the UK so I had virtually nothing to hold me back except myself life's lottery regarding your birthplace 

[watchcat]

21 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Amazing that there are still such low-life's around to treat people like this.

Disgusting.

 

Thais do anything for money, except working.

[john donson]

scum of the earth...