Thailand, China reinforce scam crackdown amid Cambodia rumours

Sun said Maris’s attendance at the regional forum would spur Myanmar and other countries affected by cross-border crime and call centre scams to tackle the issue together, Nation TV reported.

China forged a tripartite crackdown on call-centre scams on Myanmar’s border after news that a Chinese actor had been kidnapped and trafficked through Thailand to a scam compound went viral in January. Thailand agreed to cooperate by shutting off power and internet to five Myanmar border areas earlier this month. Since then, a Myanmar militia has rounded up thousands of scam-compound workers on Myanmar’s border for repatriation through Thailand. The first batch of workers arrived earlier this month, many with stories of torture endured while being forced to scam people around the world.

Thailand, China and other regional countries can also use the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) framework to tackle transnational crime. China will chair an MLC meeting late this year to follow up on the issue.

Maris also met with Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn on Tuesday, amid rumours that the scam operations, run by Chinese syndicates, are relocating to Cambodia’s border with Thailand.

Maris and Prak also discussed preparations for Prime Minister’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s upcoming visit to Cambodia. Thailand is preparing to resume negotiations with Cambodia to resolve a decades-old territorial dispute in the Gulf of Thailand.