More suspects have been arrested following the suffocation of 54 Burmese workers last week who died from lack of oxygen while riding in the container of a truck taking them to Phuket. Sixty-seven people survived. The deaths occurred in Suksamran District near Kawthoung, Burma.
The driver and an accomplice who was riding in the truck have been arrested. The driver of the seafood cold storage truck turned himself in to police on Tuesday and provided authorities with information about the case.
Police Maj-Gen Apirak Hongthong in Ranong Province told a press conference that police arrested Weera Yingyuod, 32, who was accompanying the driver. He and the driver fled the scene upon learning of the migrants’ deaths.
The investigation is continuing. Police said they expect to arrest at least seven people involved in the case.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has joined Ranong authorities in the investigation, focusing on seizing the assets of a suspected gang of human traffickers involved in the smuggling of Burmese migrants into Thailand.
The Liberty Insurance Co. Ltd., the company responsible for the truck’s insurance, on
Thursday announced it will compensate the victims’ relatives with 35,000 baht (US $1,130) and pay a maximum 15,000 baht ($438) for survivor’s medical treatment.
Meanwhile, a group of anti-human trafficking officials from Kawthoung in Burma met with Ranong police on Thursday. So far, no Burmese have been arrested in the case.
On Thursday, Thai human rights commissioners and members of the Thai Lawyer Council visited Ranong to investigate and collect information from survivors. They urged that the survivors be protected as witnesses by the authorities.
Sunee Chairot, a human rights commissioner, said survivors were scheduled to be deported on Thursday, but their deportation was delayed.
“The governor will offer an opportunity for relevant groups to talk to the survivors on Friday,” she said, according to a report in the Thai newspaper Matichon.
The case has drawn strong criticism from labor rights activists and Thai society as an example of the widespread human trafficking to Thailand from less wealthy neighboring countries.
Rights groups, including the International Labor Organization, have urged the Thai government to speed up its investigation, revise existing migrant worker policy and clamp down on human trafficking.
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