Aranyaprathet: Border patrol soldiers patrolling the Thai-Cambodian border at Ban Kut Hin, Khlong Nam Sai Subdistrict, Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province, intercepted 10 Thais attempting to illegally enter Cambodia. The incident occurred while officers were patrolling the border to intercept illegal goods being smuggled across the border. They encountered two suspicious vehicles: a white Toyota Fortuner and a black sedan with Bangkok license plates. Both vehicles were driving through a sensitive area. The white Toyota Fortuner stopped to allow six people to exit the vehicle and walk into the forest. These included one guide and five smugglers, all of whom were Thais. Officers were able to apprehend them.

According to Thai News Agency, as for the black sedan that was following, when it saw the officers, it fled, but the officers were able to intercept it about 200 meters from the first point. From an inspection inside the car, four Thai people were found, divided into one driver and three passengers. In total, there were 10 people arrested this time, all of whom had national identification cards to verify their identities.

From a preliminary investigation, two individuals involved in smuggling Thais across the border into Cambodia stated that they were contacted by Thais working in Cambodia to pick up Thais from Bangkok and have them stay at a house in Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province, before being transferred to a border area, where they would be paid 10,000 baht per month.

The remaining eight people all testified that they were invited to work through a Facebook page without paying travel expenses because their employers in Cambodia would arrange everything for them. They claimed that they only learned they would have to cross into Cambodia after being brought to the border area.

However, officials are not yet convinced. They will coordinate with Pol. Col. Damrong Iampairoj, Superintendent of Investigation, Sa Kaeo Provincial Police, to jointly investigate the individual’s work and whether he is involved with a call center gang.