They were rounded up at 4.30am after a tip-off about the Cambodian smuggling gang, which regularly transports illegal workers through Sa Kaew’s Aranyaprathet district to Bangkok.

The two truck drivers Panupong Khamkreung and Kornkrit Srikaew, who were arrested, claimed they had been hired by an unnamed person to pick up the workers and deliver them to Bangkok. The Cambodians initially told police that they were fleeing severe drought in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces and had paid the gang Bt2,000 per head so they could go to Bangkok for employment. Sa Kaew Immigration Police called on their Cambodian counterparts to pick up the 26 people as per a bilateral agreement.