Indians Among 99 Foreigners Arrested in Crackdown on Illegal Migrants in Thailand

The Thai Police searched 118 spots across the country in a nationwide raid for illegal immigrants and arrested 99 foreigners on April 26. Among those arrested were nationals from India, Myanmar, Germany and Laos, the Bangkok Post reported.

The operation, called X-ray Outlaw Foreigner, marked 118 premises, 74 of which were international schools, Tourist Police Deputy Commissioner Maj. Gen. Surachet Hakpal said, according to the report.

More emphasis was laid on international schools because foreigners staying illegally in Thailand most often approached these schools as language teachers, added Hakpal.

The most common charge against the arrested foreign nationals is overstaying in Thailand after expiry of their visas. According to Hakpal, most foreigners caught on this charge belong to countries like India, Germany and Myanmar. Another common charge against them is that of illegal entry, with people from India, Myanmar and Laos being the main accused.

The areas that were searched included some top tourist hubs like Pattaya city in Chon Buri province, Hat Yai district of Songkhla, and Koh Samui, since foreign criminals are often found posing as tourists, the report added.

Some of the foreign nationals held by the police are associated with crimes such as romance scams, credit card forgery and illegal drugs. The police said that these people would be blacklisted.

Earlier in April, the police took into custody 66 foreigners after conducting another set of raids as part of the nationwide sweep on illegal immigrants.

“Those who’ve overstayed are mostly Indians and Pakistanis, while several Laos and Vietnamese were among those who committed theft and crossed the border illegally,” Maj. Gen. Prasert Ngoenyuang, commander of tourist police had said, as per Khaosod English. While 51 of these foreigners were arrested for entering the country illegally, the 11 other foreign nationals were charged for overstaying their visas. “They will be deported to their homelands and blacklisted so they cannot come back to commit crimes in Thailand again,” Hakpal was quoted as saying in the report.

The police have conducted over 3,000 similar raids and arrested as many as 868 people in the past couple of months, Hakpal added.

Following a nationwide search conducted on March 14 and 15 this year by tourist, immigration and police agencies, 117 foreigners, including Indians, were detained in Bangkok for allegedly breaking the law.

“X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner” is an ongoing police effort that began in February this year in Thailand to crack down on foreign nationals who are involved in activities such as entering the country illegally, working without a permit and testing positive for drugs.