Relentless Smuggling: Authorities Arrest Thai Middleman and 16 Chinese and Pakistani Nationals in Ongoing Human Trafficking Operation
Authorities arrested a Thai driver and 16 Chinese and Pakistani nationals in Sa Kaew province after intercepting a pickup truck moving migrants illegally from Cambodia. The foreign nationals claimed they were lured with false job promises a
May 19, 2025 – Military personnel, local administration officials, and village safety volunteers launched an operation to intercept human smugglers moving foreign nationals illegally across the border from Cambodia. Acting on reports from local residents of a suspicious vehicle near Silarat Pattana village in Non Mak Moon subdistrict, Kok Sung district, Sa Kaew province, officers stopped a TATA pickup truck registered in Nakhon Sawan. Inside were 16 foreign nationals—10 Chinese and 6 Pakistani—crammed into the vehicle. Thai driver Surat Bounkrit, 35, was also arrested.
During interrogation, the foreign nationals claimed they traveled to Poipet for work after being lured with promises of online business and restaurant jobs. However, they weren't paid as agreed and some alleged forced labor for over six months, prompting them to escape during the night. Officers believe the operation is highly organized: smugglers transport migrants from Poipet near the border, where Cambodian guides lead them through sugarcane fields and natural passages into Thailand's An Silk area, where Thai brokers receive them for transport inland.
The search yielded numerous mobile phones, foreign SIM cards, and multiple passports; some detainees carried no identification documents. Surat confessed to being hired by a broker named "Prida" at 50 baht per head to transport the migrants to Aranyaprathet district before being intercepted. All suspects are now in custody at Kok Sung Police Station facing charges under human trafficking and illegal border crossing laws. Authorities are pursuing the network of smuggling brokers who remain at large.
