Police Arrest Couple Smuggling Chinese Nationals Through Thailand to Laos
Police arrested a would-be lieutenant and his wife for smuggling a Chinese national who had entered Thailand illegally from Myanmar. The couple was intercepted on Highway 1 near Phayao after attempting to flee a checkpoint. The Chinese man said he had come from Shwe Kokko and intended to reach Laos via Thailand.
On 19 October 2069, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) coordinated with the Highway Police Division after receiving intelligence that a group intended to transport Chinese nationals who had entered Thailand illegally from Mae Sot, Tak, onward to Laos via Thai territory. Officers spotted a white Honda with Phitsanulok licence plates traveling north on Highway 1 toward Phayao city, initiated a pursuit after signalling the driver to stop, and eventually blocked the vehicle on the old Phahonyothin road in front of Phayao City Police Station. The driver, identified as Kamphol, a 36-year-old prospective police lieutenant, and his 29-year-old partner Sudarat were apprehended; a 30-year-old Chinese national, Wang Xin Liang, was found in the rear seat without a passport. The Thai couple confessed they were paid 14,000 baht to transport the Chinese man from Lampang to Mueang Chiang Rai district, while the Chinese man said he had fled from Shwe Kokko in Myanmar, crossed into Thailand via Mae Sot, and planned to continue to Bokeo Province in Laos. Authorities charged the couple with aiding illegal aliens to evade arrest and the Chinese man with illegal entry and stay; police seized six mobile phones and the vehicle as evidence before handing all three suspects to the Phayao City Police Station for further investigation.
