Thailand holds 55 Myanmar migrants

BANGKOK—Thai authorities on Tuesday said over 50 Myanmar nationals were arrested on suspicion of illegal entry after they were picked up on a boat in waters off the country’s south coast.

Two children and nine women were among 55 people intercepted in the Andaman Sea near Ranong province, around 600 kilometers (375 miles) south of Bangkok, a Ranong immigration police official said.

All 53 adults would be charged with illegal entry, he said.

The driver of the boat escaped and is being sought on trafficking charges.

“They were in a large longtail boat from Myanmar and are already in the custody of immigration police in Ranong,” a navy official said.

There are an estimated two million migrant workers in Thailand from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.