Two Vietnamese men were arrested in Chanthaburi after crossing into Thailand from Cambodia without passports, later telling officers they had been lured by a high-paying job advertised on Facebook.
The men, aged 38 and 25, were found during an overnight patrol on October 14 near a wooded roadside in Thep Nimit subdistrict, Pong Nam Ron district. They were carrying backpacks and a suitcase while waiting for someone to collect them.
Officers deployed teams throughout the night after being tipped off that a group of foreigners was expected to enter Thailand on foot through an unofficial border crossing.
Police checked their travel documents and found that neither man had a passport or permission to enter Thailand legally.
Speaking through an interpreter, both admitted entering the country without permission and explained how they had ended up at the border.
They said they had seen a Facebook advertisement offering work in Thailand with high pay and decided to take up the offer. Their journey began in Vietnam before taking them into Cambodia, where people connected to the arrangement allegedly directed them towards the Thai border.
The men were then instructed to cross on foot through an unofficial route into Pong Nam Ron and wait on the Thai side for someone who would take them to their intended workplace further inside the country.
However, they were arrested before anyone arrived to collect them.
Their luggage was recorded and seized as evidence, and both men were charged with entering and remaining in Thailand without permission. They were transferred to Ban Plaeng Police Station for further legal proceedings.
Immigration officers are preparing to return the men to Vietnam while investigators look into the Facebook recruitment network and the route used to bring them into Thailand.
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