Soldiers of the 3rd Army did not get involved in smuggling migrant workers into the country, said Maj Gen Suriya Iamsuro, deputy commander of the 3rd Army.
The deputy commander of the northern army region said the Naresuan Task Force intensified patrols along a 987-kilometer-long section of the Thai border under the 3rd Army’s jurisdiction. It also applied drones and surveillance cameras and sought cooperation from military units in the neighboring country to block illegal migrants.
According to Maj Gen Suriya, since Dec 1, the 3rd Army has arrested 225 illegal migrants and six smugglers. It has also apprehended 92 illegal Thai returnees.
He insisted that soldiers had nothing to do with migrant smuggling but were working hard to block illegal migrants and bring Thai returnees to quarantine, he said.
It is estimated that about 400 Thai people work in the neighboring country and it is possible that 30% of them have contracted COVID-19. Of the Thai workers, 75 have returned to the country, he said. (TNA)
