Thai deputy national police chief has admitted it is likely that about 100,000 migrant workers who had left the country at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic would sneak in as the government is about register illegal migrant workers.
Expressing the concern, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat, deputy commissioner of the Royal Thai Police Office, said people from neighboring countries would want to sneak in because the government planned to register illegal migrant workers from Jan 25 to Feb 13 in a bid to better control COVID-19.
The plan could attract about 100,000 migrant workers who had left the country during the first spread of COVID-19, he said.
At the latest development, immigration police arrested 18 illegal Mynamar migrants in Don Muang district of Bangkok and as many as seven of them tested positive for COVID-19. They said each of them had paid 6,000 baht for smugglers to arrange for their trip to Thailand.
Pol Gen Damrongsak said he ordered police to step up efforts to block illegal migrants including checks on vans and buses. Such measures targeted especially Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat and Samut Sakhon provinces, he said. (TNA)
