Myanmar nationals caught sneaking into Thailand from Malaysia

NARATHIWAT (Thailand), March 3 -- Thai authorities today detained 45 Myanmar nationals trespassing into the country via a rat route on the Thailand-Malaysia border.

Sungai Kolok chief district officer Rungruang Thimabut said all Myanmar nationals, including four women, aged between 20 and 40, were detained at about 6 am (local time) today.

"All of them were arrested while crossing the river in the Sungai Kolok district in Narathiwat," he said at a press conference here today.

Ruangruang said initial investigations found that all of those arrested worked in restaurants and factories in Malaysia.

“We found that they were brought in by a Malaysian skipper (tekong darat) before being abandoned at the Malaysia-Thailand border and later, a Thai skipper would bring them into Myanmar,” he said.

All of them have completed the health screening and will undergo mandatory quarantine before being sent back to Myanmar.

-- BERNAMA