Thai police arrest 175 N Korean migrants

The 136 women and 39 men were held on charges of illegal entry after failing to produce passports and visas, the head of Thai immigration police told AFP.

"They entered Thailand at a border point somewhere in the north and have been in the kingdom around two months so far," Lieutenant General Suwat Thamrongsrisakul said.

Since their arrest late Tuesday, they have been detained at the immigration office in downtown Bangkok, he said.

"The police charged the North Koreans with illegal entry, and they will be taken to court within 48 hours. After that they could be deported back home," he said.

A Thai immigration officer said that the men, women and children had come via China, then travelled though Myanmar or Laos before entering Thailand in north.

A charge of illegal entry is punishable by a fine of up to 20,000 baht (533 US dollars) and two years in prison, police said.

The immigration officer said that 134 of the North Koreans would be sent to court on Thursday. This excludes 25 of the group who were children, and 16 who have refugee certificates from the United Nations refugee agency.

The officer said that if the North Koreans were unable to pay the fine for illegal entry, they could face jail.

An official at the North Korean embassy in Bangkok said police had not informed them of the arrests.

"We don't have this kind of news or information. We have not been contacted by immigration, then we can not confirm about this," he said.

"We will do nothing, we will not contact the immigration bureau to clarify this information," he added.