Thai and Cambodian police have rescued 215 people from a suspected online scamming operation along the countries’ shared border, marking a possible expansion of the Thai-led crackdown on scam syndicates operating in the Mekong region.
According to a Reuters report, Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub told the media yesterday that the people were freed during a raid on a three-story building in the Cambodian border town of Poipet, which sits across from the Thai town of Aranyaprathet. Among those rescued were 109 Thais, 50 Pakistanis, 48 Indians, five Taiwanese, and three Indonesians.
“This is the largest number of Thais freed from a building suspected of cyber fraud for the two countries,” Jirayu said, per Reuters, adding that the raid was the result of a joint effort by Thailand and Cambodia to tackle online scamming operations.
The raid follows Thailand’s efforts to shut down the scamming centers that have mushroomed up along the Thailand-Myanmar border. These have become an increasingly cancerous presence in the Mekong region since the COVID-19 pandemic, defrauding thousands of victims around the world while trafficking tens of thousands of people to work in the centers, drawing them in with promises of legitimate employment.
However, Thai efforts to combat the scamming operations were perfunctory prior to the widely-publicized abduction of the Chinese actor Wang Xing, 22, who went missing on January 3 near the Thailand-Myanmar border. Wang was rescued on January 7 from a scam center in Shwe Kokko, a notorious scamming hub operating on BGF-controlled territory in Myawaddy. The case, which also attracted considerable attention in China, has prompted the Chinese government to increase its pressure on the Thai government and the military junta in Myanmar to take more aggressive action to combat scamming syndicates that have cropped up inside Myanmar.
Earlier this month, the Thai government cut power and internet access to three areas where scamming gangs are known to operate: Myawaddy, Payathonzu, opposite Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, and Tachileik, opposite Chiang Rai province. Bangkok has also blocked fuel shipments to the targeted areas, while the Thai police have transferred five high-ranking police officials based along the border who are being investigated for their possible links to Myanmar-based scamming gangs.
On February 19, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announced that around 7,000 people rescued from cyber-fraud operations in Myanmar were waiting to be transferred to Thailand. The following day, around 200 Chinese nationals were flown home after crossing into Thailand from Myanmar, part of a group of 600 who will be sent home via Thailand this week. In announcing the repatriation, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters that cooperation between China, Thailand, and Myanmar was “essential,” and that officials from the three nations will meet to discuss the issue this week.
The raid in Poipet also came a day after Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa traveled to Myanmar to meet with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the country’s military junta, to talk about actions to crack down on scamming centers.
The junta in Myanmar also claims to be participating in the anti-scam crackdown. According to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar, authorities have detained an additional 109 foreign nationals. “These individuals were found in Myawaddy, particularly in the Shwe Kokko and KK Park areas, where they were involved in illegal online gambling, telecom fraud and other criminal activities,” the report stated. “The detained foreign nationals are currently undergoing identity verification and documentation by the relevant authorities to facilitate their swift repatriation to their respective countries.”
The report said the arrests brought to 2,220 the total of detained “illegal foreign nationals” detained in Myanmar since January 20.
The fact that the crackdowns have extended to the Thai-Cambodian border is well overdue, given the well-documented presence of scam centers in Poipet and other border towns. It also suggests a greater seriousness of purpose than has characterized past crackdowns. However, as I have noted previously, criminal syndicates have shown their ability to relocate quickly to more accommodating jurisdictions in response to crackdowns. In particular, questions remain as to whether the authorities in Cambodia, where prominent members of the political and economic elite have well-documented links to scamming syndicates, are serious about a crackdown.
Whether the current efforts succeed in rooting out the problem, or simply pushing it elsewhere, will become clear in the coming weeks and months.
