The Chonburi Province Immigration Office in Thailand recently conducted an operation against illegal Chinese workers. On April 26, 2023, Colonel Prinya Klinkasorn, the Superintendent of Immigration, was informed by a spy about Chinese tourists working illegally in a local factory. As a result, the Colonel instructed the police to investigate.
The police officers involved in the operation were Police Lieutenant Colonel Pirawat Wongsirimetheekul, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration; Police Lieutenant Colonel Weeraphat Phu Supanusorn, Immigration Office; Police Lieutenant Prachoen Niyom, Deputy Immigration Inspector General; and Wuttichai Rodjon, an experienced labor scholar from the Chonburi Provincial Employment Office.
Upon inspecting the factory, the officers found six Chinese individuals, comprising five men and one woman, who were working in front of computers in the office controlling the machinery. The officers requested to check their passports and work permits and discovered that all the Chinese nationals had tourist visas and no work permits. Moreover, each of them held a position as a manager, either a product manager or maintenance manager.
During the arrest, the factory gates were closed, and outsiders were not allowed to enter. Some individuals also signaled the illegal Chinese workers to flee, and a few of them even managed to escape by jumping over the wall. The police had to exert force to chase after them, but not all escaped arrest.
Colonel Prinya stated that the arrest was in accordance with the policy set by Pol. Gen. Surachet Hakpal, deputy commander in chief of the police, who ordered the immigration office to accelerate the crackdown and arrest of gray Chinese capitalists involved in illegal businesses. The aim of this is to build confidence among tourists and investors.
The police initially detained six Chinese people, including Mr. Li Huajun (40), Mr. Chen Jinyu (36), Mrs. Zhang Na (38), Mr. Yan Yuju (41), Xi Xiaoyong (47), and Mr. Sun Kwang (35). They were sent to investigators at Ban Bueng Police Station to prosecute the allegations of being temporary aliens in the Kingdom working without a work permit.
