Up to 100,000 still work in Myanmar's scam hubs – and not all are victims, Thai police say
Despite a weeks-long multinational crackdown, scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border are still operating with up to 100,000 people working there, according to the top police general leading
Thailand 's operations against the fraud compounds.
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Thailand is fronting a regional effort to dismantle scam centres along its borders, which are part of a Southeast Asian network of illegal facilities that generate billions of US 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 General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, calling for careful investigations among nationals of over a dozen countries to winnow out criminals.
Thai Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who leads Thailand's Anti-Human Trafficking Centre and Cyber Taskforce, reacts during an interview at police headquarters in Bangkok on Monday. Photo: Reuters
'Many people use Thailand as a pathway to sneak themselves into Myawaddy to find work, and this is not just the call centre gangs but also online gambling work and other professions,' Thatchai said in an interview.
His comments run counter to widespread reports that scam centre workers in and around Myawaddy were victims, lured to go there by criminal bosses.
Jason Tower, an analyst with the US Institute of Peace and an expert on regional scam centres, said that many people who willingly travelled to areas such as Myawaddy were trapped in conducting scamming operations.
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'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.
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Asia Times
2 days ago
- Asia Times
Thai-Cambodia clash through a US vs China lens
BANGKOK – A deadly border feud between Thailand's US-trained military and Cambodia's Chinese-assisted troops has resulted in a surprise agreement with Phnom Penh retreating and abandoning a freshly dug trench after one Cambodian soldier was killed and both sides reinforced their armies in the disputed Emerald Triangle jungle. The face-to-face gunfight at the border also sparked questions about Bangkok's fragile civilian-led coalition government and its ability to control Thailand's politicized military which has, when displeased, unleashed government-toppling coups. While villagers hurriedly dug schoolyard bunkers, and thousands of travelers were left stranded due to temporary checkpoint closures, Thailand announced on Sunday (June 8) that Cambodian troops agreed to withdraw to their pre-confrontation positions and make other concessions. 'Cambodia agreed to fill in the trenches, to restore the area to its natural state,' the Bangkok Post reported on Monday (June 9). The Thai Army displayed photos of what it said showed a 650-meter trench dug by Cambodian troops in the disputed zone. Two pictures showed a freshly dug trench on May 18 and May 28. Two other photos displayed the site restored and filled with dirt on Sunday (June 8). In Cambodia, details about the agreement were sketchy. 'The Ministry of National Defense of Cambodia announced today that military commanders from Cambodia and Thailand have agreed to adjust the positions of their troops along certain areas of the border to reduce tensions and avoid confrontation,' the Khmer Times reported on June 9. 'I ask the public to trust that the government is working to solve this through peaceful means, which is the only way to avoid violence and maintain good relations with our neighboring country,' Cambodia's influential former prime minister Hun Sen said. Cambodia blames Thai forces for allegedly shooting dead a Cambodian soldier on May 28 during a brief firefight in the Emerald Triangle, where eastern Thailand, northern Cambodia, and southern Laos meet. The jungle and scrubland include a no man's zone that is not officially demarcated, attracting human and wildlife traffickers, illegal loggers, smugglers, fugitives, and other criminals. The disputed zone also boasts the ruins of ancient Hindu temples, including Ta Moan Thom, Ta Moan Toch, and Ta Kro Bei. The latest deadly confrontation began when the two nations' armed forces opened fire at each other at Chong Bok pass on the Thai-Cambodian border. The Cambodians were allegedly digging a trench along the rugged, porous frontier, drawn 100 years ago by French colonialists. According to the Thai army, Cambodia's troops 'encroached' and shot first when the Thais approached to talk. Cambodian troops 'misunderstood the situation and started using weapons, so Thai forces retaliated,' a Thai army spokesman said. In an official letter to Thailand's embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's Foreign Ministry officially demanded an investigation and trial for Thailand's troops who 'without provocation' allegedly killed the Cambodian. The Cambodian soldier's death created increased public support for authoritarian Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. 'The reaction of the Cambodian public to this situation has surprised me, in how it has caused a large upswell in patriotic sentiment and pro-government support, even from a lot of people I know to be very skeptical of the government,' Craig Etcheson, an author and researcher about Cambodia, said in an interview. 'In that sense, it has been very good for the CPP,' Etcheson said, referring to the long-ruling, monopolistic Cambodian Peoples' Party. Coincidentally, miles away, China was concluding its two-week-long Golden Dragon military exercises with Cambodia, which included 2,000 combined personnel, fearsome galloping 'robot combat dogs' with assault rifles mounted on their backs, plus helicopters, vehicle-mounted rockets, mortars, and other weaponry. The Golden Dragon drills do not 'threaten or harm any country,' said Cambodia's Defense Ministry spokesman General Chhum Socheat. China is Cambodia's biggest source of weapons and other military needs, including Chinese tanks, armed vehicles and air defense training, but there was no indication of any Chinese involvement in the border confrontation. China's President Xi Jinping boosted Phnom Penh's faith in more aid and investment from Beijing during his April visit to Cambodia. In May, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs John Noh met Cambodia's Defense Minister and Secretary of State Lieutenant General Rath Dararoth to discuss security and military relations. 'Both leaders look forward to a US Navy ship visit, and maritime training, to occur at Ream Naval Base later this year, as well as travel by Secretary Hegseth to visit the US ship while in port at Ream,' the US Defense Department said on May 31. American officials hope a US ship will be able to dock, for the first time, near Sihanoukville in Cambodia's Ream Naval Base which is undergoing massive upgrades by China as part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. Thailand conducts large-scale military exercises with the Pentagon each year and allows the US Navy docking facilities, including the US 7th Fleet's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, along its shallow Gulf of Thailand coast, bolstering the US Pacific Fleet in the Indo-Pacific region. The Thai-Cambodian border clash meanwhile exposed cracks between Thailand's elected, civilian-led government and its cautious relationship with the military. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said she wants a peaceful, behind-the-scenes, negotiated settlement between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but has not announced its terms. Thailand's military is perceived as bristling against Cambodia. 'The Thai army would prefer a hawkish response,' Paul Chambers, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said in an interview before the border agreement was reached. 'As tensions have risen, alarm has grown. Such alarm could intensify to an extent that it affects Thai civil-military relations,' he said. The mood among the public has risen 'from apathetic to increasingly alarmed in both countries,' Chambers added. Others said the differences between Thailand's government and military were not destabilizing, yet. 'Currently, the Thai military and the civilian government under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra appear to be aligned in their approach to the border dispute,' Sophal Ear, an associate professor of Southeast Asian and other international relations at Phoenix's Arizona State University, said in an interview. 'Both have expressed a preference for peaceful resolution through existing bilateral mechanisms. However, the military has indicated readiness for a 'high-level operation' if necessary, reflecting a cautious stance amid increased Cambodian military activity near the border,' Sophal Ear said. Paetongtarn expressed her relationship with the army when she said, 'The military understands precisely what is happening on the ground. It is the military's responsibility to evaluate whether the situation has reached a point where confrontation is necessary. 'If not, then engaging prematurely could result in great harm.' Thailand and Cambodia, meanwhile, cooperate on several vital issues, including trade and security, which may help temper their feud. Their relations are so tight, for example, that they are jointly accused of helping each other crush political dissidents, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). 'The Cambodian and Thai governments have engaged in transnational repression – government efforts to silence dissent by committing human rights abuses against their own nationals outside their own territory — through reciprocal arrangements targeting dissidents and opposition figures, colloquially known as a 'swap mart',' HRW said. 'Both governments have facilitated assaults, abductions, enforced disappearances, and the forced return of people to their home countries where their lives or freedom are at risk,' the rights group said in April. Thailand and Phnom Penh deny violating the law when it comes to deporting people back to each other's country, despite pleas that fleeing political activists be spared. In 1999, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet was a cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point. It is unknown if that will temper or give confidence to his military dealings with Thailand. Paetongtarn's father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had close fraternal ties with Cambodia's previous prime minister and former Khmer Rouge regiment commander Hun Sen, the father of Prime Minister Hun Manet. Those generational links were especially valuable after Thaksin was overthrown in a military coup in 2006, leading to 15 years as a self-exiled fugitive from prison sentences for corruption and other financial crimes. Those enmeshed personal relationships had recently been blamed by some Thais for weakening Bangkok's negotiating stance in an ongoing dispute with Cambodia over mapping their shared Gulf of Thailand which hosts oil and natural gas extraction platforms. 'Right-wing opponents of the Shinawatras, in particular, are using the issue of Thai-Cambodian border issues to attack the Paetongtarn government,' Chambers said. 'This issue could become increasingly productive for the right-wing opposition.' Sophal Ear said: 'Opposition groups in Thailand have criticized the Shinawatra-led government for its handling of the border dispute, accusing it of being too conciliatory towards Cambodia. 'This strategy taps into nationalist sentiments, but risks being counterproductive if perceived as undermining efforts for a peaceful resolution. The [Thai] government's emphasis on diplomacy may appeal to moderates who prioritize stability over confrontation. 'In Cambodia, there is a sense of nationalistic fervor, with support for the government's decision to seek ICJ intervention. 'In Thailand, the public is more divided, some express concern over national sovereignty, while others prioritize economic and political stability,' Sophal Ear said. Thailand and Cambodia will engage in talks at a June 14 meeting of the Joint Boundary Committee, said Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. 'The government has made preparations, both the legal aspects and negotiations through mechanisms, along with military preparations on the frontline if that proves necessary,' said the defense minister, who is also a deputy prime minister. 'For those who stir up nationalist sentiments, they should understand that war is best avoided,' Phumtham said. 'Don't stir it, or problems will follow.' Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, 'Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. — Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York' and 'Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks' are available here.
Asia Times
3 days ago
- Asia Times
The tiny Philippine island denying and defying China at sea
LIKAS ISLAND – Philippine Marine Private John Lloyd Lobendino scanned the deep blue waters surrounding Likas, a tiny speck of an island in the West Philippines Sea, while rubber boats carrying visitors from the BRP Andres Bonifacio landed on the pristine beach. While other 21-year-olds are busy with other young adult pursuits, Lobendino went about his task with a seriousness normally associated with veterans who have seen terrible wars waged and blood spilled in the name of national patrimony. Like many of his fellow soldiers assigned to this remote and lonely outpost, Lobendino says he is willing to fight to the end. 'Because this is ours,' he said quietly when asked by Asia Times, which joined a recent maritime patrol operation in the South China Sea to check on the area ahead of the Philippines' Independence Day this week (June 12) He was accompanied by a fellow marine who was also in his 20s. He wore a pair of shades to protect his eyes from the sun's glare that intensely reflected the stretch of fine white sand of Likas (West York Island), the second-largest of the nine Philippine-controlled features in the disputed Spratly island chain. The military took journalists for the first time in patrolling the West Philippine Sea, the name the Southeast Asian country uses to refer to areas in the South China Sea that are within its jurisdiction. A crew member aboard the Philippine Navy's BRP Andres Bonifacio scans the horizon as the ship embarks on a maritime patrol of Manila-controlled areas in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) on June 5, 2025. Picture: Jason Gutierrez Regularly, troops among the claimants are often in the background, preferring their respective coast guards – which are technically civilian in nature – to patrol the disputed sea lest a sudden miscalculation triggers outright hostility. But the mission is meant to assert the Philippines' sovereignty and sovereign rights over the waters amid an increasingly assertive China that rejected a 2016 arbitral ruling by an international court in The Hague, which invalidated Beijing's expansive nine-dash line claims in the region. That case was brought by the Philippines, a long-time military ally of the United States and the most vocal Southeast Asian region that has stood up to China in the contested maritime area. The patrol is part of the government's 'transparency initiative' to show the public that the distant shores are vital to the country's interests. Visitors to the island are greeted by weather-beaten green signage that welcomes them to the naval detachment. In the postcard-perfect background, a Philippine flag flutters in the gentle wind. Written on a fading-green board is a reminder of PD 1596, a presidential decree signed in 1978 that formally recognized Likas as part of the Kalayaan island group in the country's map. The 18-hectare island is home to a rotating number of Marines tasked with guarding the paradise island in the middle of the ocean and watched by the People's Liberation Army Navy forces backed by their coast guard and a fleet of militia vessels posing as fishermen. Last year, a Filipino soldier was wounded when China Coast Guard men armed with pikes and machetes violently seized firearms from Filipino supply boats near the Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal, called Ren'ai Jiao by Beijing, in another part of the disputed sea. An armed soldier guards the coast of Pag-Asa Island in the West Philippine Sea. Picture: Jason Gutierrez The United States has repeatedly said it is prepared to step in if Manila invoked a 1951 treaty that calls on both sides to defend each other in times of outside aggression, a scenario that could trigger a larger conflict. For now, cooler heads are prevailing despite China's provocations. For corpsman Ibasco, who was recently transferred to the Likas detachment, there was no time to think before he shipped out from home. 'To us, it is a privilege to serve,' said Ibasco, who did not want to give out his first name citing the sensitivity of his post. He said he took his mission to heart, though time can be an adversary. To break the monotony, he swims in the morning and catches fish 'because our provisions are all preserved food.' While a satellite connection allows him to connect with his wife and young daughter at times, much of his free time is spent on self-reflection. Veteran combatant Technical Sergeant Nino Calbog, who has seen action in the strife-torn southern Philippine region against homegrown insurgents, said it was an honor to be on the ground protecting the country from foreign aggressors. A father of two, he said his service is for the country and family. 'I always tell them that my job as a soldier is for them. It is difficult for a soldier to be away from family, but my wife is there explaining to them why I need to be away for three months,' he said. There is an improvised basketball court, where the men shoot hoops beside a garden patch, while two goats roam in the back. They can be slaughtered for food but are considered more like pets. Philippine soldiers hooping in their spare time on the island, June 5, 2025. Photo: Jason Gutierrez Power is provided by a generator and solar generators, although it can be pitch black at night here. Drinking water, however, is shipped on regular resupply missions or is collected through rainfall. 'Our flag is always waving because this island is ours,' said Naval Task Force 42 chief Colonel Joel Bonavente. 'It symbolizes that our troops are here to always guard and defend our territory in the West Philippine Sea.' Isolation, he said, could be the biggest enemy for some, but assured that 'the attitude of our soldiers is well adjusted.' 'They are well-motivated and stand ready to defend our territory,' Bonavente said, adding that protocol requires them to challenge anyone who is passing by nearby. Plans to upgrade the 'hospitability of our patrol base' are in the pipeline, he said. Filipino maritime expert Chester Cabalza said frequent military patrols were necessary to further the country's win in the legal battle in the face of the arbitral ruling that China continues to ignore. 'Frequent maritime patrols exercise our right to use, possess and control all resources in the shoal,' he told Asia Times. 'It also increases familiarity to the maritime domain as a means of readiness to the potential disputes amid flashpoints in the contested islands.' More importantly, Cabalza notes, it ensures that military forces are prepared against all 'unauthorized access that would lead to annexation.' 'The government must fulfill its aspiration of a self-reliant defense posture to sustain its massive military and coast guard operations,' he said, pointing out that Japan has also recently ratified a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) that allows its troops to participate in joint drills with the Philippines, similar to the Americans. 'Beijing will feel a pinch of insecurity in view of this because they view the RAA as an impediment to their bigger goals in securing the entirety of the South China Sea,' he asserted. Jason Gutierrez was head of Philippine news at BenarNews, an online news service affiliated with Radio Free Asia (RFA), a Washington-based news organization that covered many under-reported countries in the region. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has also worked with The New York Times and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
RTHK
3 days ago
- RTHK
At least 15 dead in Malaysia bus accident
At least 15 dead in Malaysia bus accident A photo released by Perak's Fire and Rescue Department shows a minivan after it collided with a bus. Photo: AFP At least 15 people were killed when a bus carrying university students smashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia early on Monday, local rescue services said. Thirteen people died at the scene near the Thai border, on the busy East-West Highway, while two died in hospital. Thirty-one others were injured. "The bus overturned and the minivan slid into a ditch," the Perak state disaster management authority said. "Some victims managed to get out on their own, some victims were thrown out while others were still [trapped] in the bus," the statement added. The bus was carrying students from the Sultan Idris Education University, north of Kuala Lumpur, when it collided with the minivan at around 1 am on Monday. Rescue services said a hydraulic cutter was needed to rescue and retrieve some of the victims in the bus. (AFP)
