SENIOR officials and police in Samut Sakhon province were shocked to find 97 Myanmar migrant workers crammed in a single townhouse after being alerted by nearby residents that two tour buses had dropped off a large number of them this morning (Jan. 5) and all had gone into this small dwelling, Amarin TV said.
An inspection showed that all 97 male Myanmar migrant workers had legitimate passports and had come to Thailand legally under a system set up after a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the two countries.
They told officials that they had all come to Thailand via Mae Sot, Tak province, and had each paid 30,000 baht commission to this MOU system but did not know where their employer is located.
Police tracked down one of the two tour bus drivers and he said he had been hired by Ek Brokers in Mae Sot to bring them to this destination as shown in a GPS route. From here someone else was to pick them up.
Police tried but failed to contact the second broker with this raising suspicion as to why they were dropped off in Samut Sakhon and not Pathum Thani where their employer is located,
It is suspected that these 97 workers would either be sent to work at various other places in Samut Sakhon or simply abandoned.
Neighbours said this townhouse was rented out two to three months ago and has been used to house migrant workers. However in the past only groups of 10 to 20 came to stay here after arriving in a van or taxi but this time it was a very big group.
Police are currently trying to track down and check with their employer while also periodically checking on this large group of migrant workers because they are crammed so tightly in this townhouse it might lead to fights breaking out.
Officials have also given drinking water and bread to all of them because they had not eaten since morning and did not have any money on them at all.
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The 97 Myanmar workers crammed in a single townhouse in Samut Sakhon. Photo: Amarin TV
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