Immigration officers in Sa Kaeo launched a crackdown and arrested five Cambodian men and women who had illegally entered to "trade and work" in Aranyaprathet fresh market.
At 09:00 on 22 Apr 2026 GMT+7, reporters learned that Police Colonel Rung Thongmon, Chief of Immigration Sa Kaeo, ordered Police Lieutenant Colonel Kritsan Klinkajorn, Deputy Chief of Immigration Sa Kaeo, and Police Lieutenant Colonel Boonlert Polkaew, Immigration Inspector, to lead the Investigation and Suppression Unit 2 (Unit 2) of Sa Kaeo Immigration, in cooperation with Sa Kaeo Provincial Employment Office officers, to inspect illegal foreign labor activities at Wang Pa Tong fresh market, Aranyaprathet Subdistrict, Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province.
Following complaints that Cambodians had been illegally trading and working at that fresh market, the team inspected a fresh vegetable stall at Wang Pa Tong market and found four Cambodians—one man and three women—selling fresh vegetables inside the stall. Additionally, one Cambodian woman was operating a modified sidecar motorcycle selling noodles outside the stall, making a total of five individuals.
Officials requested to inspect passports and work permits. Four individuals presented passports but could not produce work permits. The arresting officers informed them that this was a violation and charged them with "foreign nationals working without a work permit or working beyond their authorized scope." The fifth individual presented a border pass.
Upon examining the border pass, officials found that the foreign national's permission to stay in the kingdom had expired. They were charged with "foreign nationals working without a work permit or working beyond their authorized scope and being Cambodian nationals staying in the kingdom after permission expired." The five Cambodians were then taken into custody and handed over to the Aranyaprathet Police Station in Sa Kaeo for legal proceedings.