The Ranong human-smuggling incident was a

human smuggling People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ei ...

disaster in

Ranong Ranong ( th, ระนองPronunciation) is a town ('' thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Ranong Province and the Mueang Ranong District. The town covers completely the area of the '' tambon'' Khao Niwet (เขานิ� ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

in April 2008. 54 people suffocated to death in a seafood container while being smuggled from

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, to

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

, Thailand.

Incident

On the night of 9 April 2008, 121 Burmese workers were transported illegally by fishing boat from Song Island in Myanmar to a landing near Ranong, Thailand. All were illegal

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

s seeking transport to Phuket, where they planned to seek jobs as day laborers. Each had paid smugglers 6,000 baht (US$190) or 10,000 baht (US$316) for the journey. All 121 people were herded into an airtight seafood refrigeration unit on the back of a truck. It measured 6 metres by 2.2 metres (20 feet by 7 feet), meaning standing room only for the passengers. Thirty minutes into the journey, conditions in the container became stifling. The workers banged on the sides of the container to alert the driver, but he failed to stop and warned everyone to remain quiet so as to avoid alerting the

Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) ( th, สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excludi ...

as they passed through checkpoints. He turned on the

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, but it failed after a few minutes. When the driver finally stopped on a quiet road running along the Andaman Sea 90 minutes later many, mostly women, had already collapsed. After seeing the bodies, the driver fled. The dead were 36 women, an 8-year-old girl, and 17 men.

Aftermath

Relatives of those killed received 35,000

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...

compensation for each relative who died, Suwanna Suwanjutha, director-general of the

Rights and Liberties Protection Department The Ministry of Justice ( Abrv: MOJ; th, กระทรวงยุติธรรม, ) is a cabinet ministry in the Government of Thailand. The ministry is in charge of the criminal justice system in the kingdom. As well as running prisons a ...

, announced in July 2008. On 28 December 2012 four Thais found guilty of human smuggling were sentenced to between three and ten years imprisonment for their involvement. The four were convicted of gross negligence resulting in death and of breaking immigration laws. The truck owner, Damrong "Run" Phussadee, of Rungruengsup Ltd, was sentenced to 10 years for his involvement. Jirawat "Ko-Chun" Sopapanwaraku, who owned Choke Jaroen Pier where the migrants arrived by boat, was jailed for six years. Chalhermchai "Joe" Waritjanpleng was sentenced to nine years in prison. Ms Panchalee "Pueng" Chusung's six-year sentence was halved after she confessed. "Three of them were granted bail of between US$13,000 bout 400,000 bahtand US$6,500

bout 200,000 baht Bout can mean: People *Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer *Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland *Marcel Bout Musical instruments * The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrumen ...

while they file appeals", the official said, adding that the fourth defendant was held in custody after failing to meet bail terms. The truck driver, Suchon Bunplong, fled the scene, but was later arrested and then confessed to his involvement. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2008, but his confession to trafficking illegal immigrants saw that jail term being halved to six years, Maj Gen Apirak Hongthong, Phuket Police Commander at the time, told the ''

Phuket Gazette The ''Phuket Gazette'' was a weekly English-language compact newspaper published in Phuket, Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the cent ...

'' in June 2008.

References

{{coord missing, Thailand 2008 crimes in Thailand 2008 disasters in Thailand 2008 in international relations 2008 in Myanmar April 2008 crimes Man-made disasters in Thailand Migrant disasters Organized crime events in Thailand Transport disasters in 2008 April 2008 events in Thailand

Incident

Aftermath

See also

References