14 migrant workers from Myanmar were arrested by the Thai Army on 9 May as they were travelling to work in Malaysia and Phuket, Thailand.

They were detained at about 11:30 p.m. near to the border post in Ranong, Thailand as they were trying to enter the country illegally, according to a statement by Thai Infantry Division 25.

It said that Thai soldiers had stopped the migrant workers’ boat to inspect it and had arrested the migrants and the boat’s crew when they attempted to flee.

The boat’s pilot was not among the arrested, but it was discovered that the Myanmar migrant labourers had each paid a brokerage fee of 30,000 Thai baht, (about $880 USD) to be smuggled into Thailand.

Since the February 2021 coup there has been an exodus of people from Myanmar with many of them going to Thailand.