53 survive Thai horror, then are convicted

RANONG, Thailand - Dozens of migrants from Myanmar who narrowly escaped suffocation while being smuggled through Thailand in a locked, stifling truck were convicted of illegal entry yesterday and will be sent home, officials said.

Fifty-four migrants died in the truck headed for the Thai resort town of Phuket after the driver abandoned the vehicle - normally used to transport seafood - when its air-conditioning failed Wednesday night.

Fourteen of the 67 survivors were minors who were immediately returned to Myanmar. The adult survivors were tried and convicted of entering the country without permission. Those who cannot pay a $63 fine will be jailed for two months and then deported, police said.

The truck's owner has been detained. The truck driver and organizers of the smuggling are being sought.

Prosperous Thailand is a magnet for people from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar who take menial and dangerous jobs shunned by Thais, and face exploitation in trying to earn a living.

One hospitalized survivor said he came with his 19-year-old wife from Mon State, a coastal province in eastern Myanmar.

Ko Ko Lah, 32, said they paid $380 each to a human-trafficking gang for the trip.

They were taken at night by fishing boat to a quiet pier in Ranong, Thailand, where they were all crammed into the truck's sweltering container area, measuring 7 feet wide by 7 feet high and 20 feet long.

"The container was very jammed and dark," he said. "My wife and I were trapped in the middle. After about 30 minutes we found that we did not have enough air to breathe. Everyone begged for help. I heard many people call the driver on mobile phones, but it seemed he did not answer."

He then passed out, he said. He said he does not know his wife's fate.