Immigration police on Tuesday arrested five Cambodian monks who had entered the country illegally at an abandoned housing project in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan province, an immigration police official said at a media briefing on Wednesday.
Immigration Police Division 3 commander Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong said the action on Tuesday followed the arrests of 11 Cambodian monks on July 11 at an unused plot of about 100 rai with dense trees and undergrowth by a road to Suvarnabhumi airport.
The monks said they had illegally entered Thailand and moved to Samut Prakan, where they had collected cash donations from local residents in the area. They said Thai people readily gave away cash and other donations, especially to Buddhist monks.