Survivor believes more than 500 killed in camps

[Morakot]

Thailand police 'recover 26 bodies' from jungle camp

BBC News 2 May 2015

Thai police say they have recovered 26 bodies from shallow graves at an abandoned jungle camp in southern Thailand.

A police spokesman said it was not clear how those found had died, but that tests were being carried out to establish their identities.

The camp was found on Friday on a route regularly used to smuggle Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).

One very ill survivor was also found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32562105

[Yann55]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

[Morakot]

Bodies from Thai mass grave show no initial signs of death: police

Reuters Sun May 3, 2015 1:21am EDT

Twenty-six bodies exhumed at a mass grave near a suspected human trafficking camp in southern Thailand do not bear signs of violent death, police said on Sunday, following initial forensic examinations at the site.

Dozens of police and rescue volunteers trekked into the mountains on Saturday to a jungle camp in Songkhla province that authorities have linked to human trafficking and dug up 21 bodies.

Five bodies were retrieved on Friday from the camp, which is a few hundred meters from Thailand's border with Malaysia, bringing the total to 26.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/03/us-thailand-myanmar-rohingya-police-idUSKBN0NO02S20150503

Edited May 4, 2015 by Morakot

[ChrisY1]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

I think you're right........dream time for tourists when they come here......as it was for me 15 years ago!

[ThaiUser]

It's a clear issue of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese Government. Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

It's a bloody mystery how all these people could have been landed and trucked to illegal slavery camps over distances of hundreds of kilometers without being detected by Thai police or the Army. Are you kidding me?

If Thai police and the Army knows about what is going on, they violated their professional oath and proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have no moral compass. If they didn't know - it reflects their incompetence. Pick your poison.

The story in itself is bad enough without needing any adding of conspiracy theories or acquisitions that point to the Royal Thai Police or the army, without providing any shred of evidence.

Illegal immigrants and traffickers are not only a problem that is faced by Thailand and the death of these people isn’t just only occurring here. I have been in Europe and the US recently and anybody a bit familiar with the problems faced there and the influx of illegal immigrants will know what kind of uphill struggle it is to get these problem under control. People, coming from Africa drowning to the hundreds in the Mediterranean or trying to cross from detention camps in France into the UK, with some of them being death when arriving there because they suffocated in the containers or lorries that tried to smuggle them across the border. Nobody there is even suggesting the involvement of the police or armed forces in the trafficking operations.

The US border to Mexico it one of the best watched and protected borders on this planet and still, people try to cross from Mexico into the US in the hope for a better life only to end up death in a tunnel that collapsed or being killed by the same people that promised to bring them into the US.

Looking at the technical resources that Europe and the US have and comparing their borders with the borders that Thailand has with her neighbour countries should make clear that accusing the Royal Thai Police or army in actually supporting the human traffickers is totally unjustified. Yes there might be some state officials involved but that can be said about Europe or the US too. Before pointing the finger we should allow the government agencies to investigate the cases and see what their findings are.

[rethaier]

Land of smiles ?

Land Of Slaughter/Slavery

[dcutman]

Now the stakes have been upped. The international community now has a legitimate reason to interfere in thai politics. This is beyond shocking. The murderers and kidnappers have to be arrested AND sentenced to death, even if they are friends or family of higher ups. Innocent men, women and children have been kidnapped, abused and murdered in Thailand and some thai officials had to know about it. Thailand should face full sanctions unless they bring ALL culprits to justice, otherwise these scumbags should face justice overseas. These murderous beasts are now walking freely in Thailand. They are the lowest forms of scum on the earth, and Thailand has so far done NOTHING to bring them to justice for their gruesome crimes. What a country!

It is disgusting that Thailand and its govts have let this go on for so long, but.

You should expand your anger to include the rest of the world and its govts, corporations and all the people that eat food, wear cloths and jewelry, drive any form of transportation, use any electronic devise, or lives in a home with furniture. Everybody (knowingly) contributes to child, forced and slave labor and the murders of people all over the world, we either just hate to admit it, or are in denial.

There are 30 million of these poor souls and they are in every single country in the world.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/17/this-map-shows-where-the-worlds-30-million-slaves-live-there-are-60000-in-the-u-s/

Here is a small list of major corporations that contribute to these crimes.

http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-huge-u-s-brands-who-profit-from-what-americans-would-call-slave-labor.html

[DejanD]

If Thai police and the Army knows about what is going on, they violated their professional oath and proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have no moral compass. If they didn't know - it reflects their incompetence. Pick your poison.

If? Of course they knew, Thailand is much scarier place than everyone here thinks. One rich guy i know told me whats really happening at the border town at south. he use to live there. I just couldn't believe how many people are involved in human trafficking, rice/fuel smuggling, drug smugling etc. And its not like few people per month, its a business, thousands of people, tons of rice,,,, I never looked at Thailand the same way again.

But when i show up at the border with 1 day wrong stamped extension- <deleted>*k that kid, you are not going anywhere.

This country is decayed to the root, and it is decaying even more day by day.

[Trentham]

It's time the UN stepped in and placed serious sanctions on Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Mass murder should not and cannot be tolerated. It is simply impossible to even comprehend how the Thai authorities managed to miss all these people which can only lead to one conclusion ... they are in on it.

Still amazes me how many expats here find this atrocious and yet remain living in a country that allows such to go on and profit from it. Remember your money fuels the system and if the expat community pulled out it would make news and maybe Thailand would begin to realize that this type of profiteering is unacceptable.

How comfortable is your bar stool?

If expats were to pull out then crime and corruption would be stepped up a few notches to make up for the loss.

[ThaiUser]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

What country are you talking about and the people killed. Is it Italy, the UK or the US which all face problems with illegal immigrants and the traffickers that run it as a business operation?

Concentration camps in the past and present have been used by states for the purpose of ethnic cleansing or breaking political resistance. That is certainly not the case here were criminals using these camps to extort money from the families of the people they hold captive. Pointing the finger at high ranking officials in Thai agencies or government and implying that they run concentration camps or being involved in it without providing evidence that can support it is not only slanderous but also might be liable and might be followed up by criminal charges.

[cloudhopper]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

What country are you talking about and the people killed. Is it Italy, the UK or the US which all face problems with illegal immigrants and the traffickers that run it as a business operation?

Concentration camps in the past and present have been used by states for the purpose of ethnic cleansing or breaking political resistance. That is certainly not the case here were criminals using these camps to extort money from the families of the people they hold captive. Pointing the finger at high ranking officials in Thai agencies or government and implying that they run concentration camps or being involved in it without providing evidence that can support it is not only slanderous but also might be liable and might be followed up by criminal charges.

Yes this is clearly a criminal operation. Do you really believe that an operation of this size could possibly take place on a troubled international border without being discovered by army or police patrols?

[DM07]

They showed no signs of a violent death?

So...that makes it sooo much better, right?!

They were just starved to death, dehydrated, maybe sick and didn't get help!

But no violence!

Well done, Thailand!

[Cake Monster]

In this year of 2015, how in Gods name is a humanitarian crisis such as this possible ?

Not only the Thai Authorities, but also the Malaysian Authorities should be hanging their heads in utter shame and disgrace over the tragic plight of these people.

There should be a world wide condemnation of both Governments for allowing such barbaric practices to thrive on their soils.

The respective Governments must have known about these camps, but instead chose to turn a blind eye, as money was being made from the suffering of the trafficked people.

Rotten, and festering to the core, is the only way to discribe the relative Authorities

[SuwadeeS]

With this issue, the reputation and image of this country just dropped to the bottom.

But as long, the international community doesn't take any serious action, like an embargo, nothing will change.

Bussiness as usual.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[elgordo38]

Land of smiles ?

LOB

[dcutman]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

What country are you talking about and the people killed. Is it Italy, the UK or the US which all face problems with illegal immigrants and the traffickers that run it as a business operation?

Concentration camps in the past and present have been used by states for the purpose of ethnic cleansing or breaking political resistance. That is certainly not the case here were criminals using these camps to extort money from the families of the people they hold captive. Pointing the finger at high ranking officials in Thai agencies or government and implying that they run concentration camps or being involved in it without providing evidence that can support it is not only slanderous but also might be liable and might be followed up by criminal charges.

Yes this is clearly a criminal operation. Do you really believe that an operation of this size could possibly take place on a troubled international border without being discovered by army or police patrols?

With the latest news about a Border Police outpost being only a few hundred meters from this prison camp certainly answers your question.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/822423-army-and-police-chiefs-fly-south-to-probe-human-trafficking-in-south/

Edited May 4, 2015 by dcutman

[JAG]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

It's time the UN stepped in and placed serious sanctions on Myanmar, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Mass murder should not and cannot be tolerated. It is simply impossible to even comprehend how the Thai authorities managed to miss all these people which can only lead to one conclusion ... they are in on it.

Still amazes me how many expats here find this atrocious and yet remain living in a country that allows such to go on and profit from it. Remember your money fuels the system and if the expat community pulled out it would make news and maybe Thailand would begin to realize that this type of profiteering is unacceptable.

How comfortable is your bar stool?

I rarely occupy a barstool. However I have a wife, daughter, job and home here. I fail to see how abandoning my daughter, wife, job and home will achieve anything in respect of putting an end to this terrible business. I actually think that some form of sanctions will in the end be the only thing that will motivate the responsible authorities to act. I am reconciled to such sanctions having an effect on me.

Now the stakes have been upped. The international community now has a legitimate reason to interfere in thai politics. This is beyond shocking. The murderers and kidnappers have to be arrested AND sentenced to death, even if they are friends or family of higher ups. Innocent men, women and children have been kidnapped, abused and murdered in Thailand and some thai officials had to know about it. Thailand should face full sanctions unless they bring ALL culprits to justice, otherwise these scumbags should face justice overseas. These murderous beasts are now walking freely in Thailand. They are the lowest forms of scum on the earth, and Thailand has so far done NOTHING to bring them to justice for their gruesome crimes. What a country!

The murderers and kidnappers should be arrested, and tried, and if found guilty sentenced in accordance with Thai law. Not in accordance with a (completely understandable) knee jerk reaction.

Edited May 4, 2015 by JAG

[ronwparker]

Stop the Burmese from pushing the Muslim minority Rohingya into the ocean, and Thailand's problem is solved by default.

Easy words to write. The discrimination by Buddhists against Muslims, (all Muslims, moderate and not-so-moderate) in Myanmar, has been ingrained for a generation or more.

I taught in Yangon for 18 months at a private school where most of the kids were Buddhist, coming from middle-class families. 2 of my young students were Muslim. Each morning, the Muslim parents had to give me their lunch-boxes, so that the Buddhist kids could not 'taint' their lunch with pork!

In class time, any mention by me of Islam was greeted with rude and racial comments - so hurtful to the young Muslim kids in the class.

Bear in mind that these were Buddhist kids, only 7 or 8 years old, whose (supposedly intelligent) parents, had taught them from birth to despise ALL Muslims.

How you even begin to solve the problem in Myanmar with an attitude from moderate Buddhists, such as I have experienced?

[ronwparker]

Exactly the same in Thailand

Sadly

[NeverSure]

The international news is picking this up big time. Nowhere to hide. Google

"Thailand Under Fresh Scrutiny After Mass Grave of Migrants’ Bodies Is Found

Mass grave site found after tip-off that human-traffickers were holding people there."

Wall Street Journal

May 3, 2015 1:31 a.m. ET

"Thailand’s efforts to combat human trafficking have come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery of more than two dozen bodies from a jungle camp that authorities suspect smugglers used to hide migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh."

"...The trafficking problem poses potentially significant sanctions for Thailand’s economy, which is already struggling with dwindling exports and slowing consumption following a military coup in May last year. The European Union is threatening to ban some $700 million a year in seafood imports if Thailand doesn’t make a marked improvement in ensuring labor standards in an industry racked by allegations of slave labor and violence. Brussels has given Thailand six months to clean up the industry."

More

Edited May 4, 2015 by NeverSure

[fred Kubasa]

This is now international news and anyone considering Thailand, for any reason/purpose, ( travel/business/investment), are, I am sure putting this information in the NO Thailand file !

[ThaiUser]

Quote : Because the survivor had come forward to testify as a witness, police issued an arrest warrant for Arnua who was then taken into custody.

Hundreds of people killed concentration-camp style, human trafficking, extortion, violent exploitation of human misery, organized racket with high-rank officials at the top ... and ONE MAN arrested so far. Not from any truly responsible level of course, although one can only guess how many highly placed people an organization like that would have to imply.

There you have it, the Land of Smiles. Sometimes I feel like the tourists here actually spend their short vacations watching a puppet show and actually believing it's the real thing.

What country are you talking about and the people killed. Is it Italy, the UK or the US which all face problems with illegal immigrants and the traffickers that run it as a business operation?

Concentration camps in the past and present have been used by states for the purpose of ethnic cleansing or breaking political resistance. That is certainly not the case here were criminals using these camps to extort money from the families of the people they hold captive. Pointing the finger at high ranking officials in Thai agencies or government and implying that they run concentration camps or being involved in it without providing evidence that can support it is not only slanderous but also might be liable and might be followed up by criminal charges.

Yes this is clearly a criminal operation. Do you really believe that an operation of this size could possibly take place on a troubled international border without being discovered by army or police patrols?

With the latest news about a Border Police outpost being only a few hundred meters from this prison camp certainly answers your question.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/822423-army-and-police-chiefs-fly-south-to-probe-human-trafficking-in-south/

The question should be how big this outpost was, how many officers were placed there, what are the ranks of the people and most importantly did they collude with the traffickers.

But the answers are already here on the forum telling everybody about the high ranking officials that must be involved without naming and shaming anybody but ensuring the collateral damage it will cause to the government and senior ranks of the police and army to being involved by making these statements.

From the Vietnam war that I witnessed as a child living close to the border I know as a fact that some camps by the Vietcong existed for years close beside main US army bases without ever being detected. It seems to me that most people don’t have an idea what a Jungle looks like and the camouflage it offers when trying to hide.

The US used Agent Orange and napalm to overcome the problem in spotting these camps, which certainly isn’t an option for Thai agencies since it would violate treaties that prohibit the use of these chemicals weapons to fight a war or catch criminals.

Edited May 4, 2015 by ThaiUser

[ExPratt]

They should do what the Brits did against the Communists in the Malayan Emergency and get after them in the Bush where the camps are and that tactic eventually gave the British victory against the communists . I'd have thought they would have been scouring the Jungle looking for Insurgent camps in that area not sitting in the village waiting to be attacked

[ExPratt]

Thai police arrest Rohingya man suspected of running deadly jungle camp . (Reuters article , ok on TVF ?, if not please delete)

(Reuters) - Thai police have arrested a man they believe is the key figure behind a brutal human trafficking network that ran a jungle camp where dozens of bodies have been found.

Soe Naing, widely known as Anwar, was detained on Wednesday as authorities closed in on a camp near the Thai-Malaysia border where as many as 400 trafficked migrants, mainly Rohingya and Bangladeshis, were imprisoned for ransom, Police Colonel Anuchon Chamat, deputy commander of police in Nakhon Si Thamma province, told Reuters.He was charged with fraud related to his failure to release a trafficked Rohingya after receiving a ransom payment.His arrest, and the uncovering of the camp containing 26 bodies on Friday, is the first major bust of a trade in humans that activists and some Thai officials say has been allowed to flourish for years amid indifference and, sometimes, complicity by Thai authorities."This is huge. He's a big guy, a top guy," Anuchon said.

Full article (Scathing in places)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/05/04/thailand-rohingya-trafficking-idINKBN0NP0BT20150504?rpc=401

[bander]

Land of smiles ?

Land of slaughter?

[Tamoio]

It's exactly the same story that is going on at the Mediteranien Sea with Africans and Arabs sending to death by human traffickers! The whole World is watching, but nobody care about! It's a shame!!!

[maidee]

scum of the earth

buddist country?

[SGX]

This stuff has been going on for years . Corruption here always starts at the top and filters through the ranks, after a while it becomes the norm.

Its human nature to power play against the weak and defenceless.

How else does this go unnoticed.

It has nothing to do with any religion, Stop fooling yourself , Religion is used as the scapegoat only , Unfortunately easy Cash and control are both the real culprits to the brainless.

[ExPratt]

It's exactly the same story that is going on at the Mediteranien Sea with Africans and Arabs sending to death by human traffickers! The whole World is watching, but nobody care about! It's a shame!!!

Its exactly the same as people are dying trying to get to another country. I think the circumstances differ quite a bit . In the Med its boatloads of desperate , Asylum seekers,refugees , economic Migrant , who have drowned on overloaded boats, I dont think any country in Europe holds any responsibility for that , tragic though it is. This case , the subject of the thread, is totally different people were held hostage /Prisoner and died or were murdered by apparent Human Traffickers within the land borders of Thailand, so who is complicit in this case ?

Edited May 4, 2015 by ExPratt