Cambodia, Thailand pledge co-op against scams, drugs at border meeting
The interior ministries of Cambodia and Thailand have pledged to cooperate in tackling scamming and drug crimes, as both nations held the 8th Meeting of the Governors of Cambodian-Thai Border Provinces on October 24.
The commitment was made during a meeting between Thai Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and his Cambodian counterpart Sar Sokha, both of whom hold the rank of deputy prime minister, according to Thai Interior Ministry spokesperson Triyasulee Traisaranakul.
The discussions covered economic cooperation and efforts to combat international crime, with a particular focus on public safety issues such as call centre scams and drug-related offences.
Anutin stressed the mutual benefits of increased cooperation, especially in border trade. He also highlighted the importance of intensifying efforts to combat drug trafficking, which, though currently minimal, both nations aim to reduce further.
“Both nations aim to strictly implement the memoranda of understanding [MOUs] concerning the suppression of call centre gangs and drug-related crimes,” said a social media post by Thailand's interior ministry on October 24.
“One of the key discussion points, which made good progress, was addressing online crimes, such as call centre scams that deceive the public through communication systems. Cambodia has cooperated well in this regard. Both sides agreed not to allow criminals to use either country as a base for illegal activities, including drug trafficking to third countries,” the post added.
Crime prevention was one of the ten points agreed upon during the meeting. Other key areas of focus included trade relations, border demarcation, migrant workers, agricultural trade, the expedited opening of new border checkpoints and logging and other cross-border crimes.
“Both sides agreed to expand cooperation in border security and crime prevention, including transnational crime,” said the tenth point in the agreement, as released by the Thai ministry.
The outcome of the meeting has not yet been released by the Cambodian interior ministry, and spokesperson Touch Sokhak could not be reached for comment on October 24.
On October 23, Anutin paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Hun Manet, during which he reiterated Thailand’s ongoing commitment to strengthening cooperation in various areas, particularly in diplomatic, military and border economic relations, according to social media posts by the Thai ministry.
He emphasised that these strong ties would ensure successful collaborations between the two countries.
Anutin noted that the cultural similarities between Thailand and Cambodia could be leveraged as soft power to benefit both economies, boost tourism and create jobs for their citizens.
Manet called for the opening of more border checkpoints to promote trade, tourism and people-to-people exchange and highlighted the Stung Bot-Ban Nong Ian checkpoint as a priority for early opening, according to his social media post.
In September, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Cambodia hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop with relevant ministries and state institutions to address digital scams.
UNDP resident representative in Cambodia Alissar Chaker noted that the current landscape of digital scams includes social engineering, phishing, e-commerce and employment fraud.
She said that Cambodia is at the forefront of tackling the issue, being the first country to engage at the national level to understand the local context and complement the proactive efforts of the government in responding to digital scams.
Niem Chheng
The Phnom Penh Post
Asia News Network
