Thai / English

60 Burmese freed in factory raid

Police rescued 60 Burmese workers yesterday from a clothing factory in Bangkok's Din Daeng area and arrested a Chinese couple who allegedly ran the factory.

20 Apr 11
The Nation

The suspects - identified as Darong Wu, 50, and his wife Namee Li, 26 - were detained on suspicion of human-trafficking and labour-law violations. Police claim a worker had tipped them off.

The worker said he was lured from Burma to work at the factory, adding that they were forced to work from 8am to midnight and then locked in. He said that he was only paid a monthly wage of Bt6,000 - less than he was promised.

Li said they kept the workers locked up because they had hired Burmese workers legally before and they had run away. She said the wages were low because they were deducting the Bt15,000 that each worker owed them for becoming eligible for work.