Workers 'cheated'
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About 200 Myanmar workers believed to have been cheated by Malaysian labour brokers were abandoned near Tarutao Island off the southern province of Satun, police said yesterday.
Pol Lieutenant Chaipol Yaiying said the 200 Myanmar people, including some heavily pregnant women, were found at Pornchai Gulf, which is often used by fishing boats to wait out storms.
The migrant workers told police they did not know where they were, were not from the same group and had not come together. Some, who had arrived via Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia were supposed to have been taken by their agents to Australia, while others who could speak Malay were meant to be destined for Malaysia. The former group said they were charged Bt60,000 for the agents’ commission and to cover travel costs.
Police suspected the Burmese workers were duped by the same agent or network and deserted at the same place. Satun immigration officials and police would take their records before sending them home.
