Thailand arrested the suspected kingpin of a human trafficking network yesterday, the latest bust in a crackdown on people smuggling that has triggered a humanitarian crisis on the region’s seas.
The Royal Thai Police said they suspected Patchuban Angchotipan, a former official in the provincial government of the southern Satun province, was the boss of a large human trafficking network.
“In Satun province he is high-level,” said Thai national police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang. “He is the chief. He has many subordinates.”
Patchuban, whose nickname is ‘Kor Tong’, has been charged with a range of offences including human trafficking, smuggling illegal migrant workers into Thailand, detention of others leading to bodily harm and holding people for ransom.
Meanwhile, Thailand expressed concern yesterday at a wave of anti-migrant vitriol on social media, which the government said underlined why it cannot accept any more of the asylum seekers who have been arriving by boat on its shores.
Following an appeal from US Secretary of State John Kerry, Thailand’s junta said it would set up temporary shelters for those that did make it ashore, prompting an outpouring of bile on social media from those who do not want migrants to stay.
“Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is worried about the social media trend right now that shows that the government should not help irregular migrants in the Indian Ocean because of concerns that they will be a burden on Thailand in the long-term,” Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, deputy government spokesman, said yesterday in a statement.
Vitriol directed at Rohingyas was particularly worrying, said Thai author and social media commentator Kaewmala, who goes by a screen name to protect her identity.
Many in Thailand are calling for Washington to intervene, using the hash tag #USAMUSTHelpRohingya.
“You said we don’t have humanity, if you’ve it, then just let them stay in ur country. Always nosy with other countries. #USAMUSTHelpRohingya,” one Twitter user, @IcezPandadang, wrote in English.
