PHUKET: Four people have been apprehended and four more arrest warrants issued over human trafficking in Thailand with authorities enlarging the search for more victims' bodies to the Andaman Sea coast from tomorrow.
The path for boatpeople through Thailand has generally begun with traffickers holding Rohingya or Bangladeshis in improvised camps among mangrove-covered islands off the provinces of Phang Nga and Ranong, north of Phuket.
Ferried from a ''mothership'' in numbers between 50 and 80, the captives usually have colored wrist bands applied off the Andaman that signify they are the property of a specific trafficker.
The abuse usually begins for many here, with some allegedly shot dead or beaten to death for trying to escape, according to survivors.
With the usual ransom demand about 60,000 baht ($2000) per individual, even a small number of boatpeople has a high net worth.
Now that 26 bodies have been detected in just one camp in Songkhla province along the Thai-Malaysia border, Thai authorities are keen to exhume other victims at both ends of the trafficking pipeline through Thailand.
Islands around the port of Kuraburi near the district of Takuapa were for years a favorite dropping-off point, with hidden camps uncovered earlier this year on at least 45 islands.
Camps on the mangrove islands tended to be more open, with escape always possible - so traffickers would beat men who tried to get away and were recaptured, or shoot others as they fled.
Tomorrow, volunteers under the direction of Takuapa district chief Manit Pleantong will begin looking for bodies at Andaman coast camps.
The Governor of Phang Nga, Prayoon Rattanasenee, has supported an anti-trafficking campaign begun by Khun Manit last year.
The campaign, centred around a 24-hour checkpoint on the main road south, appears to have severed the pipeline for the trade in people, in one province at least.
''We have now set up mobile teams to intervene and determine whether or not boatpeople are human trafficking victims or illegal immigrants,'' Governor Prayoon said.
Villagers along the Andaman coast and Thailand's southern border provinces turned trafficking into a cottage industry for may years, either sharing in the profits or, with many authorities, turning a blind eye to what was happening.
The discovery on Friday and Saturday of 26 bodies in a camp near Pedang Besar, just 300 metres from the border with Malaysia, has changed all that.
Four people have been arrested and warrants have been issued for four more.
Being held for questioning are Asan Inntanu, a member the Pedang Besar municipal council, Lor-Ae Sonyalea, a deputy village leader in Moo 8 Baan Ta Loe, Alee Lamoa, a deputy leader in Moo 6, and a Burmese, Aunzur.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Prasit Limlea, deputy mayor of Pedang Besar, Yalee Kem, another Moo 8 Baan Ta Loe village leader, Pakkapon Benlatea and Jalern Tongdang.
Media are being guided to a second jungle camp in Songkhla where more bodies are expected to be found after local police said they were unable to find that camp.
About 60 camps are thought to have been used in the area to hold Rohingya and Bangladeshis in primitive conditions while ransom demands were made to family and friends.
The path for boatpeople through Thailand has generally begun with traffickers holding Rohingya or Bangladeshis in improvised camps among mangrove-covered islands off the provinces of Phang Nga and Ranong, north of Phuket.
Ferried from a ''mothership'' in numbers between 50 and 80, the captives usually have colored wrist bands applied off the Andaman that signify they are the property of a specific trafficker.
The abuse usually begins for many here, with some allegedly shot dead or beaten to death for trying to escape, according to survivors.
With the usual ransom demand about 60,000 baht ($2000) per individual, even a small number of boatpeople has a high net worth.
Now that 26 bodies have been detected in just one camp in Songkhla province along the Thai-Malaysia border, Thai authorities are keen to exhume other victims at both ends of the trafficking pipeline through Thailand.
Islands around the port of Kuraburi near the district of Takuapa were for years a favorite dropping-off point, with hidden camps uncovered earlier this year on at least 45 islands.
Camps on the mangrove islands tended to be more open, with escape always possible - so traffickers would beat men who tried to get away and were recaptured, or shoot others as they fled.
Tomorrow, volunteers under the direction of Takuapa district chief Manit Pleantong will begin looking for bodies at Andaman coast camps.
The Governor of Phang Nga, Prayoon Rattanasenee, has supported an anti-trafficking campaign begun by Khun Manit last year.
The campaign, centred around a 24-hour checkpoint on the main road south, appears to have severed the pipeline for the trade in people, in one province at least.
''We have now set up mobile teams to intervene and determine whether or not boatpeople are human trafficking victims or illegal immigrants,'' Governor Prayoon said.
Villagers along the Andaman coast and Thailand's southern border provinces turned trafficking into a cottage industry for may years, either sharing in the profits or, with many authorities, turning a blind eye to what was happening.
The discovery on Friday and Saturday of 26 bodies in a camp near Pedang Besar, just 300 metres from the border with Malaysia, has changed all that.
Four people have been arrested and warrants have been issued for four more.
Being held for questioning are Asan Inntanu, a member the Pedang Besar municipal council, Lor-Ae Sonyalea, a deputy village leader in Moo 8 Baan Ta Loe, Alee Lamoa, a deputy leader in Moo 6, and a Burmese, Aunzur.
Arrest warrants have been issued for Prasit Limlea, deputy mayor of Pedang Besar, Yalee Kem, another Moo 8 Baan Ta Loe village leader, Pakkapon Benlatea and Jalern Tongdang.
Media are being guided to a second jungle camp in Songkhla where more bodies are expected to be found after local police said they were unable to find that camp.
About 60 camps are thought to have been used in the area to hold Rohingya and Bangladeshis in primitive conditions while ransom demands were made to family and friends.
Dear Ed
Great reporting.
Let's hope that we see more than just a few token arrests. Let's hope that the authorities become really serious about this dreadful trade.
I wonder if Khun Manit Pleantong will be in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize? He and all his volunteers are absolute legends.
Ian Yarwood
Solicitor - Perth, Western Australia
Posted by Ian Yarwood on May 4, 2015 16:45