Abstract:
Thailand has been being faced with illegal immigration and drug trafficking problem for a long time. These problems effect to many aspects such as national security, politics, economic, public health, and social problems. This study aims to explore the pattern of illegal immigration and drug trafficking in Tak province by applying Geographic Information System (GIS) as an analysis tool. 5 related factors are taken into account as follow: distance from main roads, distance from villages, distance from state-officers’ investigating posts, slope and land use patterns. Statistic of arresting case towards illegal migration and drug trafficking from 2009 to 2015 are used for analysis in this study. The study result shows that slope is the main risking factor for illegal migration. It found that in high slope rate area is rarely found the illegal migration due to difficulty of transport or settlement. In contrast, in low slope rate area; which normally use for living, trading, as well as facilities for human settlement; is attracted for immigrants both of legally and illegally into the area. Normally, illegal immigrants often transport on the main road from place to place. However, walking by an indirect route, through the forest trail, will be applied when facing with the state-offices’ investigating posts.
