It has been a rough few days on the roads in Chachoengsao, where police intercepted a pickup truck coming straight from the Thai-Cambodian border. When officers opened the vehicle, out stepped a familiar face: 37-year-old Thai driver Thotsaphon. He had only been out of prison for a short time before jumping right back into his old ways. Stuffed inside the truck bed were four Chinese men, all caked in mud and looking thoroughly exhausted.
The driver didn't try to play dumb. Once caught, Thotsaphon straight-up told police he had previously done time for human smuggling. This time, someone hired him to transport people, paying 3,000 baht per head for a total of 12,000 baht. Meanwhile, the four Chinese passengers told local media that they had traveled from China and settled temporarily in Poipet, Cambodia. Each of them had forked out between $3,000 and $5,000 USD, planning to slip through Thailand and head into Myanmar, only to have their journey cut short in Chachoengsao.
Making a living around here isn't easy, but taking shortcuts always catches up with you fast. Local media reported that the migrants will inevitably face deportation, while the driver is heading right back behind bars. With motorbikes whizzing by on the streets every day, all this running around ultimately just brings everyone right back where they started.
