TRAT — Thai authorities on Tuesday received 12 Thai nationals from Cambodian officials after they were arrested for illegally crossing the border into Cambodia through a forest route in eastern Thailand, local officials said.
The group was handed over at Ban Cham Yeam checkpoint in Koh Kong province, Cambodia, at around 11.00 on 13 January and transferred to Khlong Yai district in Thailand’s Trat province, according to Kallaya Prasitphak, district chief of Khlong Yai.
The 12 had been detained by Cambodian authorities on 8 January after allegedly entering the country illegally through a natural crossing point in the Khao Wong area of Khlong Yai subdistrict.
After their return, Thai marines from Unit 182 searched their belongings and recorded their personal details, while public health officials conducted medical screenings. Eleven were found to be in good physical health, but one 44-year-old woman was in a state of severe anxiety and panic, repeatedly asking whether she was back in Thailand. Officials said she had a history of depression and anxiety disorder and was taken to rest under medical supervision.
A 23-year-old man from Khlong Yai, identified only as Noi, admitted to leading the group across the border on foot through the forest route. He said he used the Khao Wong natural pass because the official border checkpoint was closed and claimed the route was safe and free of landmines.
Noi said he escorted two groups across the border on the evening of 8 January, using darkness to avoid detection. He said his role was only to guide them on foot to a meeting point at Khao Wong monastery, where vehicles were waiting to take them onward.
He said he was paid 6,000 baht per person for the job by an employer, and insisted that no Thai officials were involved in the operation. He said the crossings were timed to avoid military patrols.
One of those detained, a 35-year-old woman from Phichit province, said she had been working as a nursing assistant but quit because the income was not enough. She later worked in a factory but still struggled financially. She said she saw a job advertisement online offering 25,000 baht per month to work as an administrator for a poker website in Poipet, Cambodia, and decided to apply.
She said she was instructed to meet at a hotel in Chanthaburi province, where transportation was arranged to take her near the border before being led across on foot.
Thai authorities said the case highlights ongoing risks of illegal border crossings and possible links to online gambling and scam operations operating across the Thai-Cambodian border.
Investigations are continuing.