Chinese woman held on suspicion of people-smuggling

Former flight attendant questioned about helping foreigners cross Thai-Malaysian border

SONGKHLA - Immigration police have arrested a Chinese former flight attendant who is suspected of acting as a broker for a human smuggling network that helps foreigners across the Thai-Malaysian border.

The woman, identified as Pan Yutong, 34, was arrested during an operation involving immigration police.

At a hotel in downtown Hat Yai, officers found two Chinese nationals being picked up by a driver. The two were identified as Huang Guanggang and Huang Fuya.

The two men had allegedly entered Thailand illegally from Malaysia through the southern border in Narathiwat and were preparing to travel to Bangkok. All three were arrested at the scene.

Authorities said the operation resulted in five arrests in a single day, involving three Chinese nationals, one Thai driver and one Chinese holding a Vanuatu passport who had arrived at Hat Yai airport and was reportedly attempting to cross illegally into Malaysia.

Investigators said Ms Pan had previously worked as a flight attendant for an airline in China before resigning to pursue further studies in Thailand. She is suspected of coordinating travel arrangements for Chinese nationals entering and leaving Thailand through both legal and illegal channels.

Police are investigating whether the network is linked to a nationality-selling operation.

Officers reportedly found a Mexican passport in the possession of Huang Fuya one of the arrested Chinese men. A woman identified as Mila, who was carrying Vanuatu nationality documents, was found to be Chinese, according to investigators.

Police also discovered images of several Vanuatu passports held by Chinese nationals on Ms Pan’s mobile phone.

Investigators are expanding the probe to identify other people involved in the operation.

Highway police in southern Thailand said last month that they had detected a network set up to smuggle scammers overland through Thailand to Malaysia, as they attempt to flee crackdowns elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Investigators reported five arrests resulting in the apprehension of 26 suspects — 20 illegal Chinese migrants and six Thais.

Malaysian authorities have also said that scammers fleeing Cambodia and Myanmar have set up new bases in Forest City, the $100-billion megaproject in southern Johor where an estimated 17,000 of the 26,000 residential units are still empty.

Members of the public who have information about foreigners suspected of violating Thai immigration laws can contact the Immigration Bureau hotline at 1178.