The suspects at Highway Police Station 3 in Phitsanulok province on May 18, 2023.
The suspects at Highway Police Station 3 in Phitsanulok province on May 18, 2023.

PHITSANULOK — Police on Thursday said five people were arrested for smuggling Chinese and Kazakh nationals into Thailand.

Wanchana Muangchong, 53, and his four accomplices were arrested after police stopped them on a highway in Phitsanulok province and found the migrants, three Chinese and a Kazakh woman, hiding in their vehicles.

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Pol. Col. Chanchai Innara, chief of Ubon Ratchathani investigation sub-division, said Wanchana confessed he was instructed to collect the migrants from Lao border in Ubon Ratchathani province and transport them to Myanmar border in Tak province.

Police believed the migrants were heading for Myanmar, where they would work for phone scam gangs targeting Thai and Chinese people.

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The suspects were charged with assisting illegal entry into the kingdom, while the migrants were charged with illegal entry.