Four Thai nationals extradited to Malaysia hold key to Malaysian human trafficking network

Will they divulge the Malaysian connections or be silenced?

An informant connected to the Thai police, advised that the four Thai nationals extradited to Perlis last Wednesday have a deep knowledge of those involved in the Wang Kelian camps and smuggling operations on the Malaysian side, and are able to provide names. Malaysian authorities also had access to Thai intelligence about the identities of Malaysian collaborators.

Back in January 2015, Malaysian authorities discovered 139 mass graves and 28 abandoned camps in the mountains around Wang Kelian Perlis, along the Thai border. A similar number of camps were also found on the Thai side, where Bangladeshi and Rohingya people, were held ransom and sent to Malaysia for work.

Thai authorities, then pursued a crackdown on people smuggling and prosecuted 102 people over the border camps. The trial went on for two years, which involved 62 government officials, led by a Royal Thai Army Lt. General Manu Kongpan. During the trial many sessions had to be behind closed doors because “national security issues” were involved. One of the investigators Major General Paween Pongsirin had to flee Melbourne, Australia due to threats on his life.

The Thai court case concluded in 2017 with 62 people convicted of various human trafficking offences. Meanwhile in Malaysia, there have only be a couple of people charged and convicted, and a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) concluded in 2018, there was no proof of any links to Malaysian nationals or officials.

The four Thai nationals Arun Kaeofainak, Jepha Lapi-E, SomphonA-dam, and Amree Nesalaeh were handed over to Malaysian authorities, and charged in the Kangar Sessions Court last Thursday on counts of human trafficking Myanmar nationals. They are remanded in Perlis, where the case will be transferred to the Kangar High Court.

In 2017, Malaysian authorities requested the extradition of 10 Thai nationals, after they has served their sentences in Thailand. However, six out of the 10 Thai nationals requested have died in prison.

This leaves two major questions:

1.      Why are the four Thai nationals remanded in Perlis, and not brought to more secure facilities in Kuala Lumpur, where they can be interrogated, without threat? and

2.      Why didn’t the Malaysian authorities utilize Thai intelligence collected before and during the trials back in 2016-17?

Advice from Thailand indicates there was and still is a major syndicate involved in the trafficking of Bangladeshi and Rohingya people, from Thailand to Malaysia. The Malaysian-Thai border is still porous. There are still paths along Wang Kelian and the Nakkon mountain range dividing Perlis and Satun. Bukit Tangga in Kedah is now another major trafficking point from Songkhla into Felda and Mardi fields. Another route is along the Sungei Kolok River in Narathiwat, which can be crossed by small boat into Kelantan.

Is there a cover up going on? Will Malaysian authorities be able to act on new leads given by the four Thai nationals in their custody? Or, will they be silenced?

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