Speaking after a meeting with his Malaysian counterpart at the Westin Bay Siray Resort, General Somyot Pumpunmuang, Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, said, “My special investigation team tells me that we will have good news soon.
“We are cooperating with the Malaysia government but at the moment we have not pinned down the exact whereabouts of the suspect.”
He gave no name but appeared to be talking about the former chairman of the Satun Provincial Adminstration Organisation, Pajjuban Angchotiphan, who has disappeared after an arrest warrant was issued for him.
He is believed to be on the resort island of Langkawi, just south of the Thai-Malaysian border, and Malaysia has been asked to grab him and send him back.
Asked whether it was true that the “big suspect” had tried to negotiate with the Thai Police, Gen Somyot replied, “We are making no concessions. If he wants to surrender he should just do so. If he doesn’t, we will follow and catch him. I am confident that Thai police officers will get him."
He said that arrest warrants are expected to be issued soon for more members of human trafficking gangs.
Gen Somyot’s counterpart, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Khalid bin Abu Bakar, Inspector General of the Royal Malaysia Police, revealed that arrests have been taking place on his side of the border, too.
“In March and April we arrested seven groups totalling 38 people – 21 from Myanmar, 16 Malaysians and one Indonesian.
“These included ‘agency persons’ and two Malaysian policemen.
“We have also seized cash totalling MYR1.25 million (B10 million). and assets worth about MYR 3.75 million (B30 million).
“On Sunday (May 10) Malaysia officials found 555 Bangladeshi and 463 Burmese illegal immigrants dumped on the shore of Langkawi. Two transport ships were seized. We believe that they were brought from Thailand after the Thai government started to put pressure on the trafficking gangs.”
Asked whether any senior Thai police officers are expected to be moved for inaction on the trafficking issue, Gen Somyot said, “Anyone who is involved in human trafficking will be prosecuted, not simply moved. Two policemen have already been arrested.
“If we believe an officer is not doing his job properly we will investigate him. If he is found to have done his job properly he will be reinstated. If not, he will be punished.”
He told reporters that the most recent discoveries of detention camps and dead bodies were not the first. “I want to tell you that these are not the first camps we found. We found others before, but we did not tell the media about them. We did this [action against traffickers] because the Government made it a policy from January this year.
“We arrested illegal labourers and people traffickers and smugglers, and we found dead people.
“The government’s policy is very clear. And we are working closely with Malaysia on sharing intelligence and information about human trafficking.”
Dato’ Sri Khalid said, “The Malaysian government, too, is taking human trafficking and human smuggling very seriously. I can confirm what Gen Somyot just said. We are working very closely together.”
Asked whether the issue had been discussed with counterparts in Myanmar, Gen Somyot said, “It’s a complex issue. Thailand cannot solve it alone. We have to solve it together.
“Myanmar does not accept that the Rohingya are Burmese nationals but we have sent Pol Col Khemmarin Hassiri to talk with Myanmar about the problem.”
With all the current pressure Thailand is putting on human trafficking gangs, did Gen Somyot think the US might now lift Thailand from Tier 3 in its Trafficking in Persons listings – the lowest rank?
He replied, “You’ll have to ask the US about that. But we are working as hard as we can to solve all illegal activities, whether it be illegal labor, human trafficking or [other kinds of] transnational crime.”