BANGKOK, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The Thai Immigration Bureau said on Friday that it had dispatched hundreds of officers to patrol the porous areas bordering Myanmar for fear of illegal migrants crossing to Thailand and spreading COVID-19.
Thai army troops, police and administrative officers of the border town of Mae Sot, in the northern province of Tak province, were conducting inspections along jungles and the Mekong River, the two main areas dividing Thailand and Myanmar.
The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said that despite the border seal-off during the COVID-19 lockdown, there have been reports of illegal entries of Myanmar workers.
"We are about to reach 50 days of free local COVID-19 transmission, and since the ban of inbound flights still prevail, the second wave of infection would likely come from those who illegally crossed the border to Thailand," said CCSA spokesman Taweesin Visanuyothin.
Taweesin said that as Thailand had already entered into its Fifth Phase of easing of business lockdown, illegal migrants are searching for ways to enter Thailand to meet the soaring demand for cheap labor.
"It is a challenging job for border taskforce to intercept the flow of illegal migrants," said Taweesin. "Our borders are intricate and porous." Enditem
