Taxi driver abandons illegal migrants after blowout

A taxi driver in West Thailand panicked and fled after a tyre on his pickup burst carrying 33 illegal migrants. Police reported they want to talk to the driver and have launched a search for him.

The Thai driver fled after a left rear tyre burst leaving 33 illegal migrants from Myanmar abandoned in a pickup truck in Muang district in the early hours this morning.

According to police reports, two local leaders of tambon Kaeng Sian, Rassamee Silatham, head of village Moo 9, and Thanakorn Kasemsot, head of village Moo 2, alerted the police around 3.30am about a suspicious pickup truck with an enclosed box parked on the Kanchanaburi – Sai Yok Road.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the pickup truck with Kanchanaburi license plates parked on the shoulder of the road, Bangkok Post reported. Upon opening the enclosed box, they discovered 33 men and women packed inside, all…