BANGKOK, March 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Thai police believed that the 13
Myanmar nationals whose bodies were deserted at a rubbish dump in
Prachin Buri may have suffocated to death while being smuggled
into Thailand, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday.
   The bodies of three men, seven women, two boys and one girl on
Tuesday were found stuffed in rice sacks and left in a rubbish
dump site.
   Wichit Samathiwat, commander of the Institute of Forensic
Medicine, said autopsies found suffocation was the cause of death
in all the cases.
   No wounds were found on the bodies though there were bruises
that may have been caused when they bumped against one another, he
said.
   According to the report of the Thai News Agency, forensic
experts conjectured that the 13 persons had died from suffocation
after being put in bags full of animal feed. Breaks to their necks
had been caused as the corpses were being transported to the dump.
   At the same time, police also revealed that the 13 were
smuggled by the human trafficking gang from Myanmar to Mae Sot
district of Tak then to a factory in Prachin Buri.
   Charnvut Watcharabukka, a police commissioner who oversees
alien labor suppression, said Mae Sot was a popular route for
human smuggling. Myanmar workers usually pay about 5,000 baht to
people who promise to smuggle them into Thailand.
   Police had carried out searches in north provinces such as Tak,
Chon Buri, Prachin Buri and Nakhon Nayok, the report said. 
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