Police on the island province of Phuket have expanded their investigation into human smuggling activities, after rounding up some 28 Chinese nationals who exploited tourist visas to work at a construction site.
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of Chinese people in Thalang district, police raided a construction site in Ban Layan village yesterday and found Chinese nationals working there without appropriate documentation.
During the investigation, they told the police, through an interpreter, that they entered Thailand on free tourist visas. They identified a Chinese man, known only as “Heu”, who picked them up from Phuket International Airport and brought them to the construction site.
Some of the group worked on construction, while others worked as interior decorators, they claimed. They would start work at 8am, have a lunch break, and return to work at 1:30pm until…
