A large group of beggars arrested in Bangkok last week have been deported to Cambodia, Thai officials said yesterday, but many of them may have already illegally returned to Thailand.

More than 200 Cambodians were detained last Friday in the Thai capital Bangkok and Samut Prakarn province, said a representative from Thailand’s Department of Social Development and Welfare in an email seen by The Post.

Interviews conducted by the department, before those arrested were sent back to Cambodia, revealed that many of the detainees had been deported from Thailand only one week before.

“They came back right away to Thailand and were arrested again. So it’s possible that this group will come back,” the representative said.

Although deportations of Cambodian, Myanmar and Lao citizens were routine, more than 200 arrests in one day was a significant number, Claudia Natali at International Organisation for Migration in Thailand said.

Deportations in Thailand average at about 50 to 70 per day, she said. Chhea Manith, director of the Poipet Transit Centre on the Cambodia-Thai border, said he saw Cambodians expelled from Thailand regularly.