By Bernama
Bangkok : Thailand’s security agencies will soon meet to find ways to prevent undocumented foreigners from entering and working in the Kingdom, First Army Region commander Lt-Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said Saturday.
Speaking to Thailand’s news agency TNA, Lt-Gen Prayuth, who is responsible for security affairs in the Central region and Bangkok, said illegal foreign migrant workers entering the country were the most important issue for the Thai military and that related security agencies were now preparing documents which would be discussed soon.
Senior officials of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), the National Security Council (NSC) and other agencies will attend the meeting, he said.
The problem did not rest with Thailand, but with neighbouring countries which did not want to accept the return of their nationals, Lt-Gen Prayuth said.
He said a high level official meeting must discuss resolving the problem, but while the direction is still unclear the military will have to make efforts to prevent illegal foreigners from entering and working in this country, he said.
His remarks were made following Thursday’s incident in which 54 Myanmar workers were found dead of suffocation in a seafood container truck.
The workers secretly entered the southern Thai border province of Ranong and were travelling to Phuket province.
A Thai businessman was apprehended Friday in Ranong, but the truck driver was still at large.
Meanwhile, 50 survivors from the transport tragedy were taken to Ranong Provincial Court to face charges of illegal entry.
After the court proceedings, they were in police custody at Ranong immigration detention centre awaiting deportation.
Lt-Gen Prayuth said that a special task force had set up a checkpoint in Ranong after learning that illegal foreign workers would be entering Ranong, but the tragic incident took place before the truck arrived at the checkpoint.
He said that it was difficult to solve the problem because of the lack of army personnel.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said he had asked personnel from the Department of East Asian Affairs to visit the labourers who survived the incident at the hospital.
He said that Thai authorities had also made an arrangement regarding the bodies of the victims and that the authorities would also “undertake stern measures” if it was proven that the incident involved human trafficking.