A joint border force apprehended an ethnic Lahu man and confiscated two stolen pickup trucks, while patrolling in northern province of Mae Hong Son on Monday.

A border police commander, Pol Lt Col Thawatchai Surinta, said a joint force of police and soldiers were patrolling a border road in Pang Mapha district when they spotted two vehicles heading out of the country.

They ordered both vehicles to stop, but could stop only one.

The driver of a black Isuzu pickup, who identified himself as Lahu Nye On, 28, told police that he bought the vehicle from a Thai man for Bt970,000 and he picked it up this morning from another Lahu man, whose name he did not know.

In the car, police found a mobile phone and the vehicle registration book, which identified the owner as a Chutimon Premsathien, of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The officers proceeded to investigate the second vehicle, a Toyota pickup truck with no license plates, which had been abandoned by its driver nearby.

The driver of the first vehicle will be charged with illegal entry into the country and attempting to export a car without following the correct customs procedures.