Dozen of migrants from Myanmar who narrowly escaped suffocation while being smuggled through Thailand in a locked, stifling truck were convicted of illegal entry Friday and will be sent home, authorities said Friday. Fifty-four migrants died in the tiny truck headed for the resort town of Phuket after the driver abandoned the vehicle ? normally used for transporting seafood ? when its air conditioning failed Wednesday night. Fourteen of the 67 survivors were minors who were almost immediately returned to Myanmar. The adult survivors were tried and convicted of entering the country without permission. Those who can't pay a $63 fine will be jailed for two months and then deported, police said.
See "Thailand Set to Deport Myanmar Workers", Sumeth Panpetch, San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 2008