Bangkok — An army general, two provincial politicians and police officers were among the 46 people found guilty on Wednesday by a judge in Thailand’s biggest human trafficking trial, from a total of 103 defendants. Judgments were expected to run late into the day. Some of those found guilty of trafficking were also convicted of taking part in organised transnational crime, forcible detention leading to death, and rape. Thailand’s lengthy legal procedure in delivering verdicts means it may take hours before the judge reveals the exact sentences of those convicted, to a packed court in Bangkok. The defendants, among them Myanmar nationals, were accused of smuggling and trafficking migrants on the Thai-Malaysia border. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, head of the ruling junta, asked Thais not to blame the trafficking on military figures — a reference to the army general on trial, Manas Kongpan, the most senior of the officials arrested in 2015. "There are many people in this human tra...
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