The driver of the reefer-container truck which transported 121 illegal immigrants from Myanmar to find jobs in Thai south but ended up with the deaths of54 of them from suffocation, has surrendered to police after one week's manhunt.
The truck driver, identified as Suchon Boonplong, 38, was paid 80,000 baht (about 2,536 U.S. dollars) to transport the 121 illegal immigrants from Myanmar from the southern Thailand-Myanmarborder province of Ranong after they sneaked into Thailand to the southern beach resort province Phuket, according to Region 8 Police commander-in-chief Pol. Gen. Thani Tawitsri in charge of the region, newspaper Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday.
Fifty-four of the Myanmar nationals, including 37 women and 17 men, were found dead from suffocation late at night last Wednesday in Ranong province. The driver fled the scene after discovering the deaths in the back of the truck. Police issued arrest warrant for him.
The tragedy has aroused indignation among Thais, who called on the authorities to find out and punish the culprits as soon as possible and to look into loopholes in the country's law enforcement regarding cross-border human-trafficking.
The driver reportedly decided to surrender after fleeing to southern provinces of Chumphon, Nakhon Si Thammarat and the capital Bangkok, as he feared he might be killed by members of the human trafficking ring behind to protect the identities of highers-up, Thani said.
Suchon asked his family to contact Ranong provincial governor and the police picked him up in central province Phetchaburi near Bangkok.
Suchon confessed that he had failed to give notice to loud knocking by some passengers who found their fellows sick with poor ventilation inside the container, and that he abandoned the truck after he found the dead bodies.
Thai police are preparing evidence to seek court's permission to issue arrest warrants for those involved in the incident, after Suchon named some members of the trafficking network.
Source:Xinhua
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