On January 4, at 11:30 p.m., a joint operation by the Ratchamanu Task Force, Naresuan Border Protection Unit, and Tak Provincial Police intercepted a 22-wheel truck at Huai Yau Checkpoint, Mae Sot District, Tak Province. The truck, carrying 24 undocumented Myanmar nationals (17 men, 7 women), was stopped en route to Mueang Tak District.
The truck driver, Mr. Surapich Yoosomboon (23), and his accomplice, Ms. Waraporn Khamphan (21), admitted to smuggling the migrants from Myanmar’s Myawaddy Province. They confessed to picking up the group near the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot earlier that evening and planned to transport them to Kamphaeng Phet for further travel to inner Thailand. The smugglers were promised THB 3,000 per head for their operation.
Authorities highlighted the dual illegality of smuggling undocumented migrants and the public health risks posed by potential disease outbreaks, including cholera. The migrants and the two smugglers were handed over to Phawo Police Station for legal proceedings.