The lifting of restrictions on Covid-19 in Thailand, which culminated with its reopening on November 1, sparked a surge in demand for foreign labor, making it very tough to regulate the illegal border crossings.
To deal with it, Thailand’s “King Cobra” special unit team under the Surasee Taskforce is now actively searching for unauthorised migrants alongside its western border with Myanmar. Patrol is heightened in eight districts within the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan border Myanmar, which has 34 natural border passes linking the 2 international locations.
The head of the King Cobra unit, Col Assadawut Panyarachun, claimed many jobs are attracting migrants to enter the border illegally, with a migrant paying a job dealer between 18,000 and 29,000 baht to obtain entry.
He claimed that 933 Burmese migrants were arrested along the 282-kilometre-long border in Prachuap Khiri Khan between October and November this year.
The staff is collaborating with the Border Patrol Police and paramilitary forces, the Immigration Bureau, Customs Department, and local governments to prevent illegal crossings into the kingdom.
Workers from neighbouring nations, for instance, can solely enter through specified checkpoints in Tak’s Mae Sot district, Ranong, Sa Kaeo, Nong Khai, and Mukdahan beneath current labor agreements.
Four companies of soldiers from the Royal Thai Armed Forces have been deployed to strengthen border patrol operations. โซล่าเซลล์ราคาถูก of King Cobra’s models is provided with night vision monoculars and drones to establish border intrusion.
Authorities are additionally gathering intelligence from remarks made by unlawful migrants who have been arrested, which might be used to guide future operations.
Many Myanmar migrants set out from Myeik aspiring to journey for three days across the deep jungles of the Tanaosi and Samchan mountain ranges to achieve Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The King Cobra drive is led by army sergeant Kittipong Boonjuban, who graduated from the Army Non-Commissioned Officer School who claimed his duty is “another means of preserving the country and its folks.”
The unit has been divided into sections that can go on patrol for several days at a time. “We do not know the place we’ll sleep every night”.
The crew is accompanied by forestry officials and Border Patrol Police on their missions.
“We watch out for each other as a team.”
According to a supply with the Surasee Taskforce, the crackdown is costing migrant smuggling networks a lot of money..