54 Burmese Migrants Suffocate On Thai Soil

[george]

54 Burmese migrants suffocate

BANGKOK: -- At least 54 Burmese migrant workers suffocated as they were being smuggled into Thailand inside a cold storage container.

Another 21 were seriously injured, police said.

The victims were among 121 people crammed inside the container that was 6m long and only 2.2m wide, said Colonel Kraithong Chanthongbai, commander of the local police station in the southern border province of Ranong where the bodies were found.

The airtight container was normally used to carry frozen seafood.

But the migrants were trying to enter Thailand by hiding inside the container which was travelling across the border, he said.

The migrants were supposed to pay a Thai smuggling ring 5000 baht ($170) each to transport them from the Burma-Thai border in Ranong to the nearby resort isle of Phuket, he said.

Once there, they hoped to find work as day labourers, he said.

When the man driving the truck carrying the container realised some of the migrants had died, he parked on the side of a road, opened the door to the container, and fled.

"The people said they tried to bang on the walls of the container to tell the driver they were dying, but he told them to shut up as police would hear them when they crossed through checkpoints inside Thailand," he said.

The 46 people who survived without injury had been arrested.

-- AFP 2008-04-10

[dave_boo]

Eerily reminiscent of what happened in the States just a few years ago. That had to have been terrifying.

[Scott]

My sympathies to the families of these people. What a horrible way to die.

[george]

54 Myanmar Workers Suffocate in Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Fifty-four migrant workers from Myanmar suffocated in the back of a seafood truck in southern Thailand while being smuggled to the popular resort island of Phuket, police said Thursday.

An additional 47 workers survived the incident late Wednesday in Ranong province and flagged down police for help, police Col. Kraithong Chanthongbai said. Twenty-one were hospitalized while the rest were detained for questioning, he said.

"When police got to the scene, they found that 54 of the workers were already dead in the packed container truck," Kraithong said.

Of the dead, 37 were women and 17 were men. Police did not immediately know what jobs they were heading for, but illegal Myanmar immigrants in that region generally work in the fishing and construction industries or as maids.

Police were searching for the truck's driver, who had fled the scene, and members of the smuggling gang they believed arranged the trip.

Kraithong blamed the driver for failing to turn on the air conditioning in the back of the truck, which normally was used to transport seafood.

The surviving workers told police they sneaked into Ranong province from Myanmar's Victoria Point by fishing boat Wednesday night and were then packed into a small container truck for a trip to Phuket.

But after two hours, the workers told police that many of them began falling sick because of poor ventilation in the truck, Kraithong said.

The driver stopped the truck after being alerted to the problem but then fled the scene, Kraithong said.

Ranong province is located about 290 miles south of Bangkok just across from Myanmar's Victoria point and is regarding as a major trading route between the two countries.

There are about a million Burmese workers registered to work in Thailand and millions more who work mostly as laborers illegally to escape the poverty in their own country, which is one of the poorest in Asia.

--AP 2008-04-10

[tracer5050]

My sympathies to the families of these people as well.

[funfun]

2008?

[WISteve]

Very sad event.

And the consequences to the smugglers.........?

Likely nothing. Too much money to be made with the cheap labor.

5,000 baht to get them across the border? They would be working for more than a month in some fish processing plant just to pay the fee.

Life must be incredibly bleak over in Burma for these people to take the risks they do.

My heart goes out to them.

~WISteve

[markokang]

Nice to see the police arrest the few that survived@!

Bet you anything no arrests of the smuggling ring are made since the police are probably getting a cut of that!

....and generally just incompetent

[mullup]

While the world fusses over the serious issue of Tibet, the Burmese are still the forgotten people.

[KhunDtaa]

I live in Ranong and they treat the bumese here like crap. Not even as humans no labor here makes more then 3,000 baht. However there is at least three army checks along the road to Phuket, must be paying off the soldiers to get they pass these check points. Also the guy who drove the truck in the case that happen in the USA was from the same area as me Schenectady.

[Tony Clifton]

Unforgettable Thailand.

[kmart]

While the world fusses over the serious issue of Tibet, the Burmese are still the forgotten people.

Surrounded by sycophantic neighbours and the limp-wristed rubber stamp that is ASEAN. But maybe the fate of the Burmese people is in their own hands? They are being repressed only by their own junta...?

[traveller57]

same thing as what happened in england with the chinese people dead inside a container. shame

same as the chinese people who died on morecombe beach while working for peanuts in treacherous conditions while cockle picking.shame

people smuggling is big buisness now and its not nice.

[kevdulounge]

I was in Ranong last week, and when driving back to Surat Thani, on the way back, there was an army checkpoint (just before the branch Phuket - Surat Thani)... anyway they just smiled at us when we passed thru them, but I noticed they had arrested a Faraang, in his mid thirties I'd say... any idea why they would do that ? that was on thursday evening, around 6ish

[KhunDtaa]

Only reason I know Thai soldiers stop vehicles is to check for Burmese in the Ranong area. If it was police maybe stopped them for for tea money.

Edited April 10, 2008 by KhunDtaa

[thaibkk]

people pay to get into this hellhole ?

it's only a paradise for rich old FAT farang farts and the local thai rich population that does everything to suppres that kind of people but are happy to emploi them for a few thousand (4-5) baht to work as maid, ...

[thejcb]

A similar incident happened when chinese workers were suffocted trying to enter England. However, rather than arrest the perpetrators or the survivors the English sent a police group over to China to investigate and the families of the chinese dead wanted compensation from the English tax-payer. I wonder if the Thai government will travel to Burma to investigate and I wonder if the Burmese families will ask the Thai government for compernsation ? Of course not ! Its one-way traffic EVERY time. Its ok for this to happen in Thailand but when it happens in England then its an English problem and the English are racist for demanding visas to enter their country. Actually, its all a load of crap ! We are sympathesing with the Burmese but the Thais are NOT, They dont want them !

[thailand_tom]

thailand is a 3rd world country..what is burma a 4th world country..wanting to be smuggled in to thailand must mean things are alot worse then anyone knows..

[larvidchr]

RIP

[john b good]

thailand is a 3rd world country..what is burma a 4th world country..wanting to be smuggled in to thailand must mean things are alot worse then anyone knows..

Are you serious ??

"Thailand a 3rd world country" when did they get promoted ?

It will be a long time before events like these are relegated to history. Human life means very little here and even less in Burma.

I feel sorry for the people who died, but feeling sorry ain't gonna bring them back.

[stingray]

A similar incident happened when chinese workers were suffocted trying to enter England. However, rather than arrest the perpetrators or the survivors the English sent a police group over to China to investigate and the families of the chinese dead wanted compensation from the English tax-payer. I wonder if the Thai government will travel to Burma to investigate and I wonder if the Burmese families will ask the Thai government for compernsation ? Of course not ! Its one-way traffic EVERY time. Its ok for this to happen in Thailand but when it happens in England then its an English problem and the English are racist for demanding visas to enter their country. Actually, its all a load of crap ! We are sympathesing with the Burmese but the Thais are NOT, They dont want them !

In my oppinion, with the chineses it's allways about the money, it looks to me, they dont care about life, they just counting the money of the labours who died wich can't flow to china every month now. Why english tax payers have to pay compensation? Think it opposite way. Would chinese coverment pay any money for the same matter for english families?

Edited April 10, 2008 by stingray

[donna]

what a terrible way to die. escaping a country to earn a living for your family.

my heart goes out to the survivors of this tragedy, as well as the families of the deceased. its hard to believe that this can happen in 2008. what a callous #$%& the truck driver is, as are the people who 'organised' this 'shipment'.

this story has made me cry and the 'people' who did this should hang their heads in shame for what they have done.

disgusting. im speechless.

[Maigo6]

I know we all have our rants and complaints ( I'm one of the worst offenders).

Yet when stories like this come to light, it makes one sit back and take stock of the things we actually have, not just the things that we would like to have.

These poor people are being exploited in the most terrible way, their only crime is to be born poor.

I for one feel very fortunate at this moment, to be sitting in my A/C office having the time to surf the web whilst getting paid.

For many of the worlds population, the very things we take for granted are only dreams that will remain dreams forever.

Stories like this are very disturbing.

RIP to all.

[donna]

couldnt have said it better Maigo6.

[PhilHarries]

people pay to get into this hellhole ?

it's only a paradise for rich old FAT farang farts and the local thai rich population that does everything to suppress that kind of people but are happy to emploi them for a few thousand (4-5) baht to work as maid, ...

Bad hair day thaibkk? I'm sure myself and the rest of the farang sector of TV who have found happiness in Thailand can relate to your statement.

Anyway it's all okay as the Burmese generals are good Buddhists and meditate regularly and are best buddy chums with the current Thai junta - sorry I did of course mean - democratically elected government.

RIP to the poor souls, as others have remarked we may think we have it tough with our visa woes, currency devaluations, blocked shower drains etc but we have a choice where to be and we don't have to travel under such appaling conditions to be there.

[dotcom]

Nice to see the police arrest the few that survived@!

Bet you anything no arrests of the smuggling ring are made since the police are probably getting a cut of that!

....and generally just incompetent

Beat me to it.

[koto]

54 Myanmar Workers Suffocate in Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Fifty-four migrant workers from Myanmar suffocated in the back of a seafood truck in southern Thailand while being smuggled to the popular resort island of Phuket, police said Thursday.

An additional 47 workers survived the incident late Wednesday in Ranong province and flagged down police for help, police Col. Kraithong Chanthongbai said. Twenty-one were hospitalized while the rest were detained for questioning, he said.

"When police got to the scene, they found that 54 of the workers were already dead in the packed container truck," Kraithong said.

Of the dead, 37 were women and 17 were men. Police did not immediately know what jobs they were heading for, but illegal Myanmar immigrants in that region generally work in the fishing and construction industries or as maids.

Police were searching for the truck's driver, who had fled the scene, and members of the smuggling gang they believed arranged the trip.

Kraithong blamed the driver for failing to turn on the air conditioning in the back of the truck, which normally was used to transport seafood.

The surviving workers told police they sneaked into Ranong province from Myanmar's Victoria Point by fishing boat Wednesday night and were then packed into a small container truck for a trip to Phuket.

But after two hours, the workers told police that many of them began falling sick because of poor ventilation in the truck, Kraithong said.

The driver stopped the truck after being alerted to the problem but then fled the scene, Kraithong said.

Ranong province is located about 290 miles south of Bangkok just across from Myanmar's Victoria point and is regarding as a major trading route between the two countries.

There are about a million Burmese workers registered to work in Thailand and millions more who work mostly as laborers illegally to escape the poverty in their own country, which is one of the poorest in Asia.

--AP 2008-04-10

MAY BUDDHA AND GOD BLESS THEM ALL AND THEIR LOVE ONES, I CRY A THOUSAND TEARS FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE, WHAT A WASTE OF LIVES, THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE IS IN THE HEART AND THE LAND, MAY HEALTH AND HAPPINESS BE WITH US ALL, ALWAY BE SURE TO LET YOUR LOVE ONES KNOW, THAT YOU CARE, AS IT COULD BE YOUR LAST WORDS.

KOTO KEEPER OF THE OCEAN

[dotcom]

people pay to get into this hellhole ?

it's only a paradise for rich old FAT farang farts and the local thai rich population that does everything to suppres that kind of people but are happy to emploi them for a few thousand (4-5) baht to work as maid, ...

Get out of here. Come back when you have saved up some money.

We will be pleased to see you at the airport leaving this "hellhole". Moron.

[koto]

people pay to get into this hellhole ?

it's only a paradise for rich old FAT farang farts and the local thai rich population that does everything to suppres that kind of people but are happy to emploi them for a few thousand (4-5) baht to work as maid, ...

I AGREE 100%, SHAME ON MOST, NOT ALL BUT MOST

[highdiver]

what a tragedy.. so so sad.

what a sick mind would cramp 120 people into an airtight container??