Seven bodies of Burmese found in jungle by Thai police

Monday, 01 February 2010 23:54 Suu Mya

New Delhi (Mizzima) - The bodies of seven Burmese migrants were found in Phop Phra district in Thailand’s Tak province in late January following a spate of mysterious killings, eyewitness said.

The bodies of the Burmese, believed to be part of a group of migrants illegally crossing the Thai-Burma border in search of jobs, were found separately on January 27, 28 and 31, a Burmese volunteer assisting the police in investigating the case told Mizzima.

“Two bodies were found on January 27, another two were found on 28, and three on January 31. We believe two more are missing,” the volunteer, who declined to be named, told Mizzima.

Initial investigations suggest that the seven Burmese were among 12 people brought over by a tout, who was taking them to Bangkok for jobs.

Since migrants do not have legal documents to travel, the tout took them along the jungle route, where they seem to have been attacked by unidentified gunmen, the volunteer said.

While seven of them were killed, three of them and the broker reportedly survived and reached Bangkok. But on the request of the volunteer, two of them came back to Phop Phra, while the broker and another Burmese escaped.

The volunteer said, one of the two Burmese is currently held at the police station for interrogation, and the other Burmese, a disabled person with speech difficulties, remains in his house.

Interrogation has revealed that the 12 Burmese, all of them from Karen State in eastern Burma, were brought by a tout to proceed to Bangkok on January 25, along the jungle route, in search of jobs.

“It seems they were attacked on January 26. But we are still unable to find two bodies,” he added.

Aung Kyi, a Burmese migrant worker in Bangkok, whose wife was among those killed, told Mizzima over telephone that he rushed to Phop Phra district on hearing the news.

“I rushed from Bangkok when I heard the news, and I have been ill since,” Aung Kyi said.

There were bullet holes on the bodies, the volunteer said. Though Thai police are conducting investigations, the perpetrators remain unidentified and are still at large.

The Burmese migrants, like many others of their ilk working in Thailand, had agreed to pay the tout 9,000 Baht, but the three survivors said, they had given 10,000 Baht on reaching Bangkok.

Thailand, with its relatively better economic standard, compared to Burma, hosts nearly two million Burmese migrants, working in various sectors including the sex industry, restaurants, fishing, and hardware industries.

While a few Burmese, who can afford it, come to Thailand by bus from the border, after bribing officials at check-points, most Burmese choose to cross through the jungle route helped by touts.