Police, local officials and rescue workers rushed to a rubber plantation, in Na Bo Kham sub-district of Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet province this morning (Saturday), after they were alerted by villagers to the presence of about 20 migrant workers from Myanmar, including some dead and injured.

The authorities found three dead, including two women and a man, and four injured. None of them were in possession of proper immigration documents.

One of the migrant workers, called “See”, told the Thai officials that there were 23 of them and each had paid 7,000-23,000 baht to a human trafficking gang to bring them from Myanmar into Thailand through Mae Sot district of Tak province.

He said they were packed into a pickup truck and, as they were travelling downhill on Friday night, the truck overturned, throwing all of them out of the vehicle.

Another pickup then arrived at the scene to pick them up to continue the journey, until it stopped at a rubber plantation. They were told by the driver to disembark, claiming that an ambulance would be sent to pick them up, said See.

The ambulance did not arrive until dawn, when Thai villagers came across them and alerted the police.

The four injured were rushed to the district hospital for treatment, while the 16 unhurt survivors were sent to a temple in Na Bo Kham sub-district for COVID-19 tests.

Of late, many migrant workers from Myanmar have escaped their strife-torn homeland into Thailand, to seek jobs in the cities, as the country has eased lockdown restrictions to allow many businesses to resume operations. Most enter Thailand with the help of human trafficking gangs.