Scam hubs on Thai-Myanmar border still have up to 100,000 people, Thai police says
Despite a weekslong multinational crackdown, scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border are still operating with up to 100,000 people working there, the top police general leading Thailand's operations against the fraud compounds said.
Thailand is fronting a regional effort to dismantle scam centers along its borders, which are part of a Southeast Asian network of illegal facilities that generate billions of dollars every year, often using people trafficked there by criminal gangs, according to the United Nations.
Based on early assessments of some of the 5,000 people pulled out of sprawling scam hubs in Myanmar's Myawaddy area, hundreds went there voluntarily, said Police Gen. Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, calling for careful investigations among nationals of over a dozen countries to winnow out criminals.
"Many people use Thailand as a pathway to sneak themselves into Myawaddy to find work, and this is not just the call center gangs but also online gambling work and other professions," Thatchai said in an interview.
His comments run counter to widespread reports that scam center workers in and around Myawaddy were victims, lured to go there by criminal bosses.
Jason Tower, an analyst with the U.S. Institute of Peace and an expert on regional scam centers, said that many people who willingly traveled to areas such as Myawaddy were trapped in conducting scamming operations.
"Many did go in willingly, only discovering that they had been trafficked later," he said.
Several former scam workers describe being trapped in the compounds, where they were forced to trick strangers online into transferring large amounts of money, often pretending to be romantic interests.
Police Gen. Thatchai Pitaneelaboot |
REUTERS
Although these scam centers have operated for years, they came under renewed scrutiny following the abduction of Chinese actor Wang Xing in Thailand in January, who was later rescued from Myawaddy.
The incident sparked a social media firestorm in China, and Beijing dispatched officials to Thailand to coordinate operations targeted at breaking up scam hubs like Myawaddy and rescuing scores of its citizens, many of whom now have been flown home.
"Since the Wang Xing case, there were 3,600 foreigners who traveled Mae Sot, and we did not find one who was tricked or coerced to come," Thatchai said, citing information gathered by police checkpoints set up in the Thai district bordering Myawaddy.
Among some 260 people from 20 nationalities who were sent from Myawaddy to Thailand in February as the crackdown gathered steam, most were not coerced, according to initial investigations conducted by Thai authorities, Thatchai said.
"These people went there voluntarily," Thatchai said, adding that he is waiting on information from countries including China and India that have repatriated hundreds of their nationals on whether they had been trafficked to scam centers in Myawaddy.
Thatchai said the crackdown so far has only affected a fraction of the vast operations in Myawaddy, which lies across a narrow river from the Thai town of Mae Sot.
"It could be up to 50,000 or 100,000 people that are still left because we are still seeing their operations," he said, based on Thai police intelligence as well as information gathered by Chinese authorities, who have identified at least 3,700 criminals continuing to operate in the area.
Since February, more than 5,200 people have been extricated from scamming facilities in and around Myawaddy, according to Thai police citing Myanmar authorities. Over 3,500 have been sent back to their home countries via Thailand, which has also cut off electricity, internet and fuel supplies to the area.
With scam workers hailing from a wide range of countries, Thatchai said he is pushing for a multinational coordination center to repatriate, investigate and share information to prosecute criminals involved in the fraud operations.
Suspected criminals extricated from Myawaddy and other scam hubs should be prosecuted in their home countries, and the Thai police are ready to help wherever necessary, Thatchai said.
The main focus of Thai authorities currently is to help coordinate the return of scam center victims to their home countries, with thousands of former workers still stuck in limbo on the Thai-Myanmar border, including some who are struggling to find their way back because of a lack of funds.
"We have to discharge people as quickly as possible," Thatchai said. "So that the Myanmar authorities and ethnic armed groups can conduct more crackdowns."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
4 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Chinese fighter flies within 45m of Japan patrol plane over Pacific, Tokyo says
TOKYO -- Chinese fighter jets flew abnormally close to a Japanese patrol plane monitoring a Chinese aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean twice within the past few days, Japan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday. A Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C plane was followed by a Chinese J-15 from the aircraft carrier Shandong for around 40 minutes on Saturday and 80 minutes on Sunday, according to the ministry. The jet, believed to have been armed with missiles, flew within 45 meters of the patrol plane at the same altitude, a short enough distance to risk a collision.
Kyodo News
12 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Japan PM to urge G7 to work to tackle North Korea's cryptocurrency theft
KYODO NEWS - 25 minutes ago - 18:03 | All, Japan, World Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to call on his Group of Seven counterparts to work together to tackle North Korea's cryptocurrency thefts at their summit in Canada later this month, government sources said Wednesday. Ishiba's decision comes amid allegations that North Korea is using illicitly obtained virtual assets to fund its development of weapons of mass destruction, prompting demands for stronger international cooperation to cut off its financial lifelines. With Pyongyang bolstering its relations with Moscow in the military field, Japan is also eager to deepen collaboration with European nations supporting Ukraine, which has been under invasion by Russia since February 2022, the sources said. The G7 countries, meanwhile, plan to establish a task force to review tax exemptions on cross-border e-commerce involving small parcels, the sources said, as retailers flood the markets of member nations with cheap goods. The three-day summit is scheduled to kick off from Sunday. Canada, this year's rotating president, has sounded out Japan about participating in the task force, the sources added. The move reflects growing concern among G7 members about the strain that the volume of parcels containing low-value goods puts on customs processing. The countries also seek to provide some level of protection to domestic businesses subject to sales and consumption taxes, from which products sold by overseas retailers, notably those in China, are exempt. Under the "de minimis" rule, Japan currently waives trade and consumption taxes on imported items priced 10,000 yen ($69) or less, except for rice, sugar and some other items. In 2024, approximately 170 million boxes valued under the threshold were imported, accounting for about 90 percent of the total number approved by customs, according to Japan's Finance Ministry. Chinese e-commerce giants like Shein and Temu have taken advantage of the tax exemption to grow their presence in Japan and other large markets. The G7 members believe that the surge in these shipments is straining customs operations and weakening border controls against counterfeit products and illicit drugs. In May, the United States revoked its tax exemption for small parcels from China, citing concerns about the inflow of illegal drugs, particularly fentanyl. Japan is also considering a review of the tax exemption system for such shipments, the sources added. Related coverage: North Korean hacker group identified in theft of DMM Bitcoin assets Japan's DMM Bitcoin to end business after losing 48 bil. yen in leak
Japan Today
14 hours ago
- Japan Today
Japanese man tells U.N. forced sterilization at 14 ruined his life
A child victim of forced sterilization under Japan's now-defunct eugenics protection law said the surgery ruined his life, as he described his experiences at a U.N. event on disability rights Tuesday in New York. "Because of the surgery, my life was thrown completely off course," the 82-year-old man, who uses the pseudonym Saburo Kita, said at the event linked to a United Nations conference on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Kita is a member of a group that won compensation from the government in a Supreme Court ruling in July last year. He was forced to undergo sterilization at the age of 14 after he was placed in a child welfare facility for alleged delinquents. He chose to never reveal the surgery to the woman who later became his wife until just before her death, calling the incident a "painful secret." The eugenics law, which was in effect between 1948 and 1996, permitted authorities to sterilize people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses or hereditary disorders without their consent to prevent the birth of "inferior" offspring. According to government estimates, about 25,000 people in Japan were sterilized, 16,500 of them without consent, under the law often labeled the worst human rights violation in the country's postwar history. In its ruling, the top court said the law was unconstitutional as it violated both the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the right to equality. While the lawsuit brought hope to all victims, "It does not mean we can start our lives over. Surgery motivated by eugenics is a tragedy that cannot be undone," Kita said in his speech at the headquarters of the United Nations. "I want to reduce the number of people who suffered the way I did -- even if it's just by one," Kita said. After being unsure about what to do with his compensation payout, Kita's supporters urged him to use the money to deliver the speech at the United Nations. After the event, Kita told reporters that he wanted to continue speaking about his ordeal to bring a deeper understanding of the suffering he and others experienced. © KYODO
