Follow Thailand’s rules, beware of third parties, Chinese embassy urges its citizens
China’s embassy in Thailand has urged its nationals and businesses to continue abiding by the laws of the country, while being wary of third parties who may try to discredit China and undermine the close relationship between the two countries.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the embassy was responding to negative reports about some Chinese nationals being involved in “grey businesses” in Thailand.
“China has always required overseas Chinese citizens and companies to strictly abide by the laws and customs of the country where they are, to operate legally, and actively give back to the local society,” said the post.
The Chinese people in Thailand have done so over the years, said the embassy, adding that Chinese citizens and enterprises in Thailand are well recognised for their passion in social welfare and charity activities and great contribution to Thailand's economic development.
The embassy said it supported the Thai side in dealing with the suspected illegal activities of some individual Chinese citizens in Thailand in accordance with the law. The law enforcement agencies of China and Thailand are cooperating closely in combating cross-border crimes such as online gambling and fraud, it added.
“Suspected illegal acts are only committed by a small number of individuals and by no means represent the mainstream Chinese citizens and enterprises in Thailand,” the embassy clarified.
The embassy then urged all related parties to maintain vigilance against “some third-party forces” that are trying to use this issue to discredit China and undermine the friendly cooperation between China and Thailand.
“We firmly oppose this and will work with Thai people to maintain the sound development in the momentum of our bilateral relations,” it insisted.
The crackdown on Chinese triad in Thailand started in November last year with the arrest of alleged triad kingpin Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant, a Chinese national who gained Thai citizenship by marrying a senior Thai police officer.
Since then, several individuals in his network have been arrested and investigated, including over 100 Thai police and immigration officials who were found to have allegedly helped facilitate Chinese criminals to stay in Thailand.
