Trat: Investigative police from Mai Rut Police Station, Trat Province, arrested nine Chinese nationals at a resort along with 48 mobile phones, suspected of being involved in a scam. Meanwhile, Border Patrol Police Unit 12 arrested eight Thai nationals working in Poipet who illegally crossed the border back to Thailand.

According to Thai News Agency, investigative police officers from the Mai Rut Police Station, along with immigration officers from Trat, inspected a resort in Mai Rut Subdistrict, Khlong Yai District, Trat Province, after discovering suspicious activity. Nine Chinese nationals were found staying in the room, along with 48 mobile phones.

Initial reports indicate that a Thai man drove a car to a room and then a van brought the group of Chinese people in on the evening of November 1st. They then disappeared and have been unable to be contacted. Police are currently questioning all the Chinese nationals, using a Chinese interpreter to translate, but their accounts are inconsistent. Some claim they arrived by sea, while others claim they arrived via a natural channel.

In Sa Kaeo Province, Border Patrol Police 12 arrested illegal immigrants on the Thai-Cambodian border in Khok Sung District, Sa Kaeo Province, at Ban Nong Chan, Village No. 3, Non Mak Mun Subdistrict, Khok Sung District. Eight Thai immigrants (four men and four women) were found and arrested for illegally entering the Kingdom on foot without going through legal channels.

During the initial investigation, the arrested individuals confessed to working in Poipet, Cambodia, both as a restaurant and as an online admin. They paid a Cambodian broker 500-3,000 baht per person to help them illegally walk back into Thailand bypassing immigration checkpoints before being discovered and apprehended by officials.

The officers informed all suspects of the charges and their rights for the offense of ‘being a Thai national entering or leaving the Kingdom without passing through an immigration checkpoint, port area, station, or area, and without following the prescribed time.’

All suspects confessed to all charges and were taken to the Khok Sung Police Station for further legal proceedings.