70-Kilometer Cross-Province Chase: Thai Driver Arrested for Smuggling Six Chinese Nationals from Border to Bangkok

On May 6, 2025, the Central Investigation Bureau's Highway Police Division launched a pursuit operation across more than 70 kilometers, ultimately arresting a Thai driver who was illegally transporting six Chinese nationals. Deputy Lieutenant Colonel Kamolpop Hanyavet from the Highway Police Station 5 in Prachuap Khiri Khan-Sakaew revealed that officers received intelligence about Chinese nationals being smuggled from the Sakaew border into Bangkok, prompting them to set up surveillance. In the early morning hours, they spotted a gray Toyota pickup truck with Bangkok license plates on Highway 359 (Phonom Sarakham-Sakaew), also known as the Sakaew bypass route, in Sri Maha Phot District, Prachuap Khiri Khan. When officers signaled the vehicle to stop for inspection, the driver refused and accelerated away toward Khao Hin Sor District in Chachoengsao, then doubled back toward Sakaew. Officers pursued the vehicle intensively over approximately 70 kilometers before successfully intercepting it in Tha Kaset Subdistrict, Muang Sakaew District.

Inspection of the vehicle revealed the driver, 36-year-old Suthat (surname withheld), and six Chinese passengers. Through interpreters, authorities discovered: • One passenger had overstayed by 957 days • Five passengers had illegally entered without passports

Suthat confessed to borrowing a friend's vehicle to transport the Chinese nationals from Nong Sang Subdistrict, Aranyaprathet District, Sakaew, to Bangkok for 5,000 baht per trip. He was charged with harboring and concealing illegal foreign nationals to help them evade arrest. The six Chinese nationals were charged with illegal entry and unauthorized residence in the kingdom. They were handed over to Muang Sakaew Police Station for further legal proceedings.