Thai security authorities received 44 Thai nationals returning from Cambodia at the Ban Khlong Luek border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province on Friday, with five wanted on arrest warrants.
The Ban Khlong Luek border checkpoint — closed for months because of continuing tensions with Cambodia — was opened temporarily to receive Thai nationals returning after completing legal proceedings in Cambodia.
The repatriation came after the Thai-Cambodian Border Coordination Office coordinated with Cambodian authorities to arrange for the return of Thai nationals who had been granted royal pardons and released from prisons in Cambodia.
Several hundred Thais have now been returned from Cambodia, where many had been swept up in raids by authorities cracking down on transnational cybercrime scam centres.
Officials have determined that some of the Thais knew what awaited them when they accepted job offers in places like the Cambodian border town of Poipet, but others had maintained that they were deceived about the nature of the work.
The latest group of returnees comprised 27 men, 16 women and one boy. During screening and background checks, authorities found that five of the returnees were wanted under a combined 11 arrest warrants.
The five were taken into custody and handed over to police for further legal proceedings.
The remaining 39 Thai nationals were found to have no criminal records or outstanding warrants. Officials will assist them in returning safely to their respective hometowns.
The army’s Burapha Task Force, Sa Kaeo immigration police and and local administrative authorities took part in Friday’s operation.
Thai authorities handed over 35 Cambodian nationals who had been arrested and completed their legal proceedings, returning them to Cambodia.
Investigations found that most of the Cambodian nationals had entered Thailand illegally through natural crossing points in search of employment in areas farther inside the country. They were subsequently detected by Thai officials and processed for repatriation.
