Thai man arrested for trafficking migrants from Myanmar to Malaysia

A joint operation by enforcement team, comprising the police and army, raided a house in Padang Besar in Sadao on Saturday and found the 33-year-old suspect in the house.

According to Bangkok Post, an investigation revealed that the suspect acted as a middleman to send Myanmar migrants to work in Malaysia.

The news report said the man was wanted on a warrant issued by the Na Thawi provincial court for colluding in trafficking of migrants.

The enforcement team also seized a .22 pistol and 33 rounds of ammunition and a pickup truck during the raid.

The arrest followed an investigation where a group of 31 Myanmar migrants, including six women, were arrested at a rubber plantation near the Thailand-Malaysia border in Sadao district on Jan 20.

Further investigation found the detainees had travelled from Myawaddy township in Myanmar and intended to head to Malaysia for work promised to them.

They entered Thailand via illegal border crossing into Mae Sot district of Tak province, and were then taken by a pickup truck to Hat Yai in Songkhla before attempting to enter Malaysia, also via illegal means.