One Indian, 4 Thais held in Chiang Rai for sneaking into Thailand
An Indian national was arrested on Friday in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district for entering Thailand illegally through the natural border with Myanmar.
The man was arrested at a pier in Wiang Phang Kham subdistrict, opposite the Myanmar town of Tachileik that has spawned Covid-19 clusters in Thailand.
“The 29-year-old had no documents and confessed to entering Thailand through the natural border. He said he was heading to Bangkok to take a flight to India. He also admitted that he had been working in Myanmar to collect money for his fare back home,” a border police officer said.
The man has been detained and will be tested to see if he is carrying the Indian variant of the Covid-19 virus.
Also on Friday, officials at the Mae Sai checkpoint arrested four Thais for entering the country without going through procedures put in place to control the spread of Covid-19.
The four are Thalitha Reun-Ngam, 47, from Kanchanaburi; Kanokporn Sitthiyodpreecha, 35, from Chiang Rai; Natthee Boonnawa, 35, from Uttaradit; and Somjai Samphanphrae, 31, from Bangkok.
They reportedly said they had gone to Myanmar for work before the border in Chiang Rai had been closed off. They apparently paid a Myanmar national between 10,000 and 13,000 baht each to help them cross the mountainous route into Thailand.
All four are being detained at the Mae Sai Police Station for questioning and will be charged for violating the law.