BenarNews
Police in Thailand announced Wednesday that they had arrested 78 people this month – mostly Thais – who were suspected of smuggling in more than 260 migrant workers from Myanmar and other neighboring countries.
The crackdown on suspected traffickers of migrant workers came on orders from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha last month, amid a wave of coronavirus infections, Police Gen. Suwat Changyodsuk, the national police chief, said at a news conference. Authorities had blamed the surge in COVID-19 cases on migrants who had entered the country illegally via the kingdom’s shuttered borders.
“The operations are focused on trafficking rings – brokers and their masterminds – who smuggle illegal workers in or out. We are not focused on suppressing the illegal workers because the government has a clear policy on bringing some of them into the labor system and letting them work,” Suwat said.
English By Vijitra Duangdee Share on Facebook Print this page
The main groups maaking up the Rasadorn (the people) movement have formally declared a hiatus to the major street rallies that rocked the kingdom, demanding sweeping reforms of Thai politics and the once-untouchable monarchy.
But pockets of protesters have switched from major scale rallies to smaller flash mobs and publicity stunts targeting the royal defamation law, section 112 of the Thai penal code.
The law carries a penalty of between three and 15 years per charge for “insulting, defaming or threatening” the monarchy and is loathed by Thailand’s pro-democracy movement, which views it as a political weapon. More than 40 protesters so far have been charged under the law.