Thailand mulls wall at Cambodia border as scam centre crackdown widens
Reuters
March 4, 2025 09:00 MYT
March 4, 2025 09:00 MYT
A general view of Shwe Kokko city from Thailand's side of the border, amid growing pressure on the illegal compounds that have ensnared vast numbers of people of multiple nationalities, in Mae Sot district, Thailand. - REUTERS/Filepic
BANGKOK: Thailand is studying the idea of building a wall on part of its border with Cambodia to prevent illegal crossings, its government said on Monday, as a multi-national effort to dismantle a sprawling network of illicit scam centres mounts.
AI Brief
- Authorities intensify efforts against scam centres in Southeast Asia, rescuing victims trafficked by criminal gangs.
- Thailand considers building a wall along its border with Cambodia to curb illegal crossings linked to scam operations.
- Over 7,000 foreigners, mainly from China, remain stranded in Myanmar as officials work on their repatriation.
The crackdown is widening against scam centres responsible for carrying out massive financial fraud out of Southeast Asia, especially those on Thailand's porous borders with Myanmar and Cambodia, where hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked by criminal gangs in recent years, according to the United Nations.
At the weekend, Thai police received 119 Thai nationals from Cambodian authorities after a raid in the town of Poipet pulled more than 215 people out from a scam compound.
"If it is done, how will it be done? What results and how will it solve problems? This is a study," Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said of the wall proposal, without specifying its length.
A spokesperson for Cambodia's government declined to comment on the wall proposal. Its foreign ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thailand and Cambodia share a border of 817 km (508 miles). The Thai defence ministry has previously proposed a wall to block off a 55 km natural crossing between Thailand's Sa Kaeo province and Poipet, which at present is only protected by razor wire.
Telecom fraud centres have been operating for years in Southeast Asia, ensnaring people of multiple countries as far away as West Africa.
They have faced heightened scrutiny after the rescue in January of Chinese actor, Wang Xing, who was lured to Thailand with the promise of a job before being abducted and taken to a scam centre in Myanmar.
In Myanmar's Myawaddy, more than 7,000 foreigners - mostly from China - are waiting to cross from into Thailand, which is coordinating with embassies to to try to streamline their repatriations.
Hundreds of foreigners pulled out of the compounds are in limbo in squalid conditions in a militia camp in Myanmar and are struggling to secure a route home, according to some detainees, while a top Thai lawmaker last week said the crackdown is insufficient, estimating 300,000 people have been operating in compounds in Myawaddy alone.