A taxi driver in West Thailand panicked and fled after a tyre on his pickup burst carrying 33 illegal migrants. Police reported they want to speak to the motive force and have launched a seek for him.
The Thai driver fled after a left rear tyre burst leaving 33 unlawful migrants from Myanmar abandoned in a pickup truck in Muang district within the early hours this morning.
According to police reviews, two local leaders of tambon Kaeng Sian, Rassamee Silatham, head of village Moo 9, and Thanakorn Kasemsot, head of village Moo 2, alerted the police around 3.30am a few suspicious pickup truck with an enclosed field parked on the Kanchanaburi – Sai Yok Road.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found the pickup truck with Kanchanaburi license plates parked on the shoulder of the road, Bangkok Post reported. Upon opening the enclosed field, they found 33 men and women packed inside, all of whom have been illegal Myanmar migrants. The driver was nowhere to be discovered.
During interrogation, the migrants knowledgeable the police that the pickup truck was being pushed by a Thai man and was travelling alongside Rajabhat – Kanchanaburi Road, heading in the course of a bypass highway in Muang district. They further revealed that they illegally entered Thailand by way of a natural border crossing and have been waiting for the driving force to choose them up.
Upon reaching the Kaeng Sian intersection, the motive force observed a highway checkpoint nearby and instantly made a U-turn. After driving for about 2 kilometres, the left rear tyre suddenly burst, following which the taxi driver deserted the pickup truck and fled the scene.
The migrants were taken to Muang Police Station for authorized proceedings, while the police launched a seek for the absconding taxi driver. The driver’s statement is crucial to the investigation, and the police are interesting to the public to return forward with any info that will result in his whereabouts.
Illegal migrants from Myanmar is a well-known theme in Thailand.
Only two weeks ago, police found 106 unlawful migrants crammed right into a truck in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, western Thailand, yesterday. Hush-hush was nowhere to be discovered..