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A senior Thai official announced on Sunday that authorities rescued 215 foreign nationals in a major operation targeting a suspected cyber scam hub in Poipet, a Cambodian border town. The raid was a joint effort by Thai and Cambodian officials.
The operation was carried out in Banteay Meanchey province and, according to Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub, 109 Thais, 50 Pakistanis, 48 Indians, five Taiwanese, and three Indonesians were freed up.
According to Jirayu, “This is the largest number of Thais freed from a building suspected of cyber fraud for the two countries.” The raid was carried out as part of a bilateral effort to tackle cybercrime syndicates, and the numbers liberated were substantial.
Hundreds of thousands of individuals have been trafficked across Southeast Asia by criminal networks, who have forced them to participate in scam operations that produce billions of dollars every year, according to the United Nations.
After the recent rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was taken to a scam center in Myanmar after being led to Thailand with the promise of a job, the government is cracking down even harder on these places.
The regional governments are working harder to shut down these businesses. Earlier this month, Thailand cut off fuel, electricity, and the internet to areas near the border with Myanmar that were connected to scam sites. Along with 621 Chinese nationals who were rescued from these institutions, the Thai army said on Saturday that China has repatriated them.
