Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

Police on a Tak highway intercepted two pickup trucks carrying 71 undocumented migrant workers, in what authorities say was a repeated smuggling operation.

 

Pol Maj-Gen Kongkrit Lertsitthikul, Commander of the Highway Police, ordered the operation, with Pol. Col. Sathit Samanphap, Chief of Highway Police Division 5 and other officers leading the interception on Highway 1132, between Wang Prachop and Phran Kratai districts.

 

The operation followed intelligence reports of a human smuggling from Tak province into central Thailand. Officers stopped two suspiciously heavy looking vehicles with concealed cargo.

 

The first vehicle, a white enclosed pickup truck driven by 31-year-old Boonchuay, contained 40 migrants, 22 men and 18 women. Three women were seated in the front passenger area, while the remaining 37 were found packed inside the rear cargo compartment. None of the occupants carried legal travel documents.

 

The second truck, driven by 31-year-old Piyawut, was following the first. Inside were 31 migrants, 23 men and 8 women, also without travel documents.

 

During questioning, Boonchuay admitted he had been hired by an ethnic Hmong man to transport workers from forested areas in Tak to Talat Thai Market in Pathum Thani province, earning 10,000 baht per trip. He said he had done this several times before.

 

Piyawut confirmed that Boonchuay had persuaded him to follow in a separate truck for the same purpose, earning 5,000 baht. This was his second time assisting in such an operation.

 

All suspects and migrants were taken into custody and handed over to Wang Prachop Police Station for prosecution.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-09-05

 

 

 

Or as they said on buses "room on top for more"