CHIANG RAI – Tourist Police report residents tipped them off that 19 Chinese men who fled Myanmar after forces hit KK Park, a Chinese-backed scam base in Myawaddy, were apprehended Saturday. They reportedly crossed into Thailand and were hiding in Chiang Rai while waiting to be taken onward to Laos.
Pol Lt Col Thanawin Puangmali of Tourist Police told reporters he received a tip-off from locals that foreigners, believed to be Chinese, were acting suspiciously at a house in Tha Sut, Mueang Chiang Rai. He deployed with Pol Lt Jinda Maneetip, investigators from Subdivision 2, and Chiang Rai Immigration to check the address.
Officers opened the door and found 19 men sleeping throughout the multi-room rental. None spoke Thai. Checks showed they were Chinese nationals, aged 18 to 37. Only six held passports, and their visas had expired. The other 13 had no identification at all.
Searches of their bags turned up an unusually large number of mobile phones. Police also found Ms Chatchada, 35, from Chedi Luang in Mae Suai, who said she rented the house. She told officers she had been asked to find a rental for Chinese occupants. She earned 200 baht a day for arranging food, water, and cleaning, and claimed she did not know where the men had come from.
Through an interpreter, the men said they left Myawaddy in Myanmar, slipped into Thailand via a natural border crossing in Mae Sot, Tak, then travelled on to Chiang Rai. They were waiting for handlers to move them to jobs in Lao.
Police charged the six with passports with being foreign nationals who remained in the Kingdom after their permission had expired. Those without documents were charged with entering and staying in the Kingdom without permission. The Thai woman was charged with assisting, harbouring, or helping foreign nationals to evade arrest. All suspects were handed over to investigators at Ban Du Police Station for legal action.
Pol Lt Col Thanawin said the operation followed orders from Pol Lt Gen Saksira Phueka-am, Tourist Police Commissioner, and Pol Maj Gen Olan Ieamprapas, Commander of Tourist Police Division 2, as part of a crime sweep targeting ten prohibited offence groups from 18 to 25 Oct.
Chiang Rai Tourist Police had been gathering intelligence and identified the group’s hideout. The men admitted to fleeing the Myanmar crackdown and entering Thailand illegally. The case may also be tied to scam networks and online fraud activities.
