Boxing camp manager caught smuggling migrants in Prachin Buri

In Prachin Buri, Thailand, a boxing camp manager and ten undocumented migrants were apprehended by the police on August 18. The incident occurred after a pickup truck carrying the group allegedly evaded a police stop and ended up on a village road. The 42-year-old driver, identified as Wichan, was arrested along with nine Bangladeshi nationals and one Myanmar national in the Wang Tha Chang subdistrict, Kabin Buri district.

The white Isuzu pickup truck used to transport the group was seized by the police. The police spotted the vehicle while patrolling Highway 359 close to the Sa Kaeo provincial border, an area commonly used for smuggling undocumented migrants from Cambodia into Thailand. The driver accelerated away from the police, prompting officers to call for assistance.

The truck entered a village road in Wang Tha Chang, lost control, and came to a stop on the roadside. The driver and nine migrants then fled into a nearby plantation. After more than three hours of searching, all were apprehended. The 42-year-old manager, Wichan, claimed he managed a boxing camp in Aranyaprathet and had been transporting migrants for three months.

He said he was hired by a man named Na for 5,000 baht per trip, which he used to cover expenses at his boxing camp. The migrants, who had been working in construction in Cambodia, intended to reach the Bangladeshi embassy in Thailand to return home. They were taken to the Wang Takhian Police Station for legal proceedings, and the investigation to identify more individuals involved would continue.