Dozens of Burmese residents were arrested after fleeing the violence in their homeland and entering neighbouring Thailand.

Police detained 30 men, 27 women and two children who in Kanchanaburi province along the border with southern Myanmar on Monday evening (April 12).

The group claimed they were escaping from violence after officials in their village were killed by soldiers, who have enforced a brutal crackdown since seizing power with a military coup on February 2.

Colonel Sitthiporn Chulapan, Deputy Commander General of the 9th Regiment, said all of people had entered Thailand illegally and they would be prosecuted.

He said: ‘Our aim is to find the broker that trafficked these people from Myanmar across the border. They said they were escaping from violence. However, they were also hoping to work on rubber plantations where they can earn more money than in their country.’