Thailand Initiates Court Action For Human Trafficking Offences

SONGKHLA (Thailand), May 29 (Bernama) -- Forty-eight people were charged in court Thursday for human trafficking in southern Thailand. Among them was Nai Pajuban Angchotipan or Koh Tong, former head of the Satun Province Administrative Board, who was said to be the leader of the biggest syndicate in Satun. He was slapped with 12 charges while one more charge against him has not been announced as police are still gathering evidence and documents. Deputy police chief of the Eighth Division, Pol. Maj. Gen. Pawin Ponsirint, as head of the police team investigating the human trafficking case, had met with police in the Ninth Division at the latter's operations centre, Hatyai district, Songkhla, before commencing prosecution. After the meeting, the police personnel and prosecutors proceeded to the Natawi Regional Court to read the supplementary charges against the 48 men who were held in the prison there. The latest charges were for cross-border offences as the crime of human trafficking involved several nations like Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. Three earlier charges had been made for human trafficking, assisting foreigners to enter Thailand illegally and detaining people for the purpose of ransom. --BERNAMA