Institute for Migrant Rights
Railway line at Cianjur station, c. 1890 · KITLV, CC BY 4.0

Migration Jurisprudence from the South › Thailand

Public Prosecutor v. Manas Kongpaen and others (southern trafficking camps)

Criminal Court, Bangkok · Thailand · 2017-07-19 · National court

Citation: [case number to be added]
Type of case: Criminal
Outcome: Decided for the migrant side

Question

Were the officials and others charged over jungle camps where Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were held for ransom guilty of trafficking?

What the court decided

Yes for 62 of about 102 defendants, including a former army general sentenced to 27 years.

In plain language

In 2015 mass graves of migrants were found in camps near the Thai–Malaysian border. A Bangkok court convicted 62 people, including a senior army officer, of trafficking. An appeal court later increased his sentence.

Dalam bahasa sederhana

Pada 2015 ditemukan kuburan massal migran di kamp dekat perbatasan Thailand–Malaysia. Pengadilan di Bangkok memvonis 62 orang, termasuk seorang perwira tinggi tentara, atas perdagangan orang. Pengadilan banding kemudian memperberat hukumannya.

Pertanyaan: Apakah pejabat dan pihak lain yang didakwa atas kamp hutan tempat migran Rohingya dan Bangladesh ditahan untuk tebusan bersalah atas perdagangan orang?

What happened afterwards

  • 2015-05: Camps and graves discovered.
  • 2017-07-19: 62 defendants convicted.
  • 2019-10: Appeal court upholds and increases the general’s sentence.

Sources

Open this decision in the interactive collection (compare, filter, Indonesian view, downloads).

Cite as: Institute for Migrant Rights (2026), Migration Jurisprudence from the South, version 0.1, https://theimr.org/court-decisions/d/th-trafficking-2017/. This page summarizes a court decision for research and advocacy; it is not legal advice.

For researchers

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