BANGKOK — After more than two weeks of pursuit, Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division police have arrested the third suspect in the shocking case where 26 Rohingya were transported in a enclosed pickup truck, resulting in 3 deaths in mid-October.
Somkiat, or ‘Bang Golf’, age 30, the leader of the Rohingya smuggling team, was arrested in Kaeng Hang Maeo district, Chanthaburi Province on November 1. His two team members, Nattawut and Pongpisanu, both 20 years old, were arrested while hiding in Bangkok. All were transferred to Lang Suan Police Station in Chumphon Province.
Previously, police arrested two other members of the operation: Seksan, age 21, the driver, and Pitak, age 30, who was riding with him, on Petchkasem Road in Cha-am district, Phetchaburi province. All individuals were charged with jointly assisting illegal aliens to enter the Kingdom to avoid arrest.
On November 1, Pol. Maj. Gen. Saruti Khwaengsopha, Commander of Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, stated that this trafficking network had tens of millions of baht circulating in their accounts. Somkiat was the gang leader who took orders from investors before directing his subordinates to drive and pick up Rohingya from the Rom Klao area to transport them to the southern region, planning to cross into Malaysia, but the tragic incident occurred first.
The investigation revealed that when Somkiat learned his subordinates were arrested, he quickly fled Bangkok to Khun Song subdistrict, Kaeng Hang Maeo district, Chanthaburi Province, in a national park forest area bordering a neighboring country, which was difficult to track. However, officers eventually managed to locate and arrest him.
Somkiat confessed that he received payment from brokers to transport Rohingya to Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, before waiting to cross into Malaysia, with a fee of 3,000 baht ($88.5) per person. The transportation method involved using a sealed pickup truck that was narrow with little ventilation to avoid detection.”
26 Rohingya were smuggled by human traffickers in a enclosed pickup truck and hidden in a forest near the foot of Wat Sekharam mountain in Lang Suan District, Chumphon Province, approximately 2 kilometers from Petchkasem Road. Monks from Wat Sekharam discovered them on the morning of October 17.
Three of them died of suffocation while others were in a weakened state due to lack of oxygen from sitting in the nearly airless truck over a long distance.
The survivors told police they were all brought from Myanmar’s Rakhine State and smuggled into Thailand en route to Malaysia, where they have relatives. They hoped to find employment and improve their lives. The entire process takes nearly a month, with each person paying approximately 150,000 Thai baht ($4,500).
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