Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to round up beggars

Deputy governor Theerachon Manomaipiboon said a recent survey showed that there were still 131 beggars in the capital despite 557 being rounded up earlier by a team led by Deputy PM Sanan Kachornprasart. Of the beggars, 23 are mostly Cambodians who will be repatriated next month, while the remainder will be sent to a shelter in Nonthaburi where officials will determine if they were involved in human trafficking and if they should be subjected to legal action, he said.

The Prachabodi Centre, run by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, reported that there were 900 homeless persons wandering the streets of Bangkok, and that many of the so-called beggars came from two villages in the Northeast.