Ex-Flight Attendant Arrested for Smuggling Foreigners in Songkhla
Songkhla immigration police arrested a former flight attendant turned people‑smuggling broker and four accomplices at a Hat Yai hotel on 15 October 2026. The broker had helped two Chinese migrants enter Thailand illegally from Malaysia and was also linked to a Vanuatu woman intercepted at the Padang Besar border checkpoint. All five suspects face charges of assisting illegal entry, while the three foreigners are charged with unlawful stay.
On 15 October 2026, immigration police in Songkhla, acting on orders from the Royal Thai Police chief, coordinated with tourist police, security units and border patrol to raid a hotel in Hat Yai. They arrested a Chinese‑national identified only as ‘Pan’, a 34‑year‑old former flight attendant turned people‑smuggling broker, together with five others — two Chinese men, a Thai driver and a Vanuatu woman. The two Chinese men had entered Thailand illegally through a natural crossing in Narathiwat province and were waiting in the hotel’s parking lot for Pan to pick them up and take them to Bangkok. Further investigation revealed that Pan had previously brought a Vanuatu national, ‘Mila’, to Hat Yai airport to hand her over to another broker for onward travel to Malaysia; police intercepted the vehicle at the Padang Besar checkpoint and found Mila hidden beneath clothing in the back seat. All five suspects were charged with assisting illegal migrants, while the three foreign nationals were charged with entering and remaining in the kingdom without permission. Police spokesman Pol Col Jaruenpong Kantilo said the operation netted five suspects in one day: three Chinese, one Thai and one Vanuatu.
