By D. Arul Rajoo, Bernama
Bangkok : At least 54 illegal immigrants from Myanmar were found dead inside a cold storage truck due to suffocation in the southern province of Ranong as they were attempting to smuggle into the tourist island of Phuket.
Local media reported that there were about 120 people inside the container when police found the truck parked along the road early Thursday morning.
The illegal immigrants were believed to have entered the Kingdom from Song Island in Myanmar before hiding inside the truck which was carrying them to Phuket.
Due to the political uncertainty and poor economic situation in the military-ruled country, thousands of illegal immigrants often crossed into Thailand along the vast border to work in the Kingdom or travel to Malaysia subsequently.
According to several reports, there are about 1.5 million Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, some of them had walked for several days in the thick jungle or had taken a boat ride in the rough sea.