Crime Pickup Truck or Sardine Can? Myanmar Migrants Crammed into Cabin on Illegal Journey to BKK

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of ThaiRath.

 

A discovery was made on 18May in the border area of Tak when security forces intercepted a pickup truck crammed with ten people, including nine illegal Myanmar migrants and their Thai driver. The migrants, who had crossed the border illegally, were reportedly en route to Bangkok in search of work.

 

At approximately 11:30, Colonel Ratkorn Rueantip, Commander of the Rajamanu Task Force under the Naresuan Army, ordered soldiers from Infantry Company 421 to conduct a patrol operation. The unit was tasked with monitoring illegal activities such as drug trafficking, border incursions and unauthorised entry into the country. While travelling along a dirt road through cassava plantations near Baan Valley Nuea, Village 3, Valley Subdistrict, Phop Phra District, the patrol encountered a grey Isuzu D-Max pickup truck bearing Phitsanulok registration plates.

 

The vehicle was stopped for inspection and was found to contain an astonishing ten people packed tightly into its cabin, an arrangement compared by officers to “sardines in a tin can.” Among them were nine undocumented migrants from Myanmar, along with the Thai driver, later identified as 29-year-old Mr. Prit from Kiri Rat Subdistrict, also in Phop Phra District.

 

Upon questioning, Mr. Prit confessed to collecting the migrants near the border at Baan Moker Thai, with the intention of transporting them to a house in Village 15 of the Kiri Rat area. He admitted that no payment had yet been agreed upon for the transport, as the contact responsible for arranging the smuggling had fled the scene earlier during a separate crackdown.

 

The migrants, comprising five women and four men aged between 17 and 36, were named as follows:

 

1. Mr. Tet Oo Aung, 36

2. Mr. Si Su, 33

3. Mr. Aung Soe Thuy, 25

4. Mr. Saw Wei Nyein, 17

5. Ms. Ja Ja Phaw, 28

6. Ms. Si Su, 27

7. Ms. Se Seing Su, 35

8. Ms. Tae Jae Moe, 19

9. Ms. Wa Wa Me Htay, 23

 

All admitted to having entered Thailand illegally with the aim of reaching Bangkok for employment opportunities, travelling in stages under the guidance of traffickers.

 

Authorities have taken the individuals into custody and are continuing investigations into the smuggling network. The driver faces charges relating to the unlawful transport of migrants and may face further legal consequences pending the outcome of the investigation.

 

The incident highlights ongoing concerns about human trafficking and illegal border crossings along Thailand’s porous frontier.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from ThaiRath 2025-05-19.

 

 

 

[anchadian]

And none of them were wearing safety belts.  

[Gottfrid]

Looks like group sex to me.