A Thai man was saved from drowning by a para-military ranger just in time, after he had developed leg cramps while trying to swim across a border canal from Cambodia’s Poipet into Aranyaprathet district of Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Saturday night.
A para-military unit was on a routine patrol along the Thai-Cambodian border in Ban Khok Sabaeng village at about 8.30pm when they heard shouts for help from the Mahod Canal, which marks the border between the two countries.
A member of the patrol unit then directed a torch light toward the area where shouts came from and they found a man struggling in the water. A ranger jumped into the canal with a spare life vest and managed to pull him to safety on Thai territory.
The man, identified as 23-year-old Worathep from Si Sa Ket province, told police investigators that he travelled to Poipet illegally on August 20th, to work for a call centre scam gang for US$300 per month.
He admitted that he had agreed to open four “mule” bank accounts for the gang, used to park the money defrauded from its victims. All four bank accounts have now been frozen by the bank.
He claimed that he asked his employer to arrange for his return to Thailand. On Saturday night, he was taken to the border and told to swim across the Mahod Canal to Aranyaprathet.
Klong Luek police said the man has been held in custody facing charges of illegal exit from and illegal entry to the country.
