Thai And Cambodian Police Free 215 Foreigners From Online Scam Center, There Are Three Indonesian Citizens

JAKARTA - Thai and Cambodian police raided a building in the border town and released 215 foreign nationals, a senior Thai official said on Sunday, in an expansion of the regional crackdown on the online scam center.

Sunday's raids targeted a three-story building in the border city of Cambodia, Poipet, Banteay Meaney Province. The foreign nationals rescued consisted of 109 Thai nationals, 50 Pakistani nationals, 48 Indian nationals, five Taiwanese nationals and three Indonesian citizens, Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said on Sunday.

"This is the largest number of Thai citizens released from a building suspected of committing cyber fraud for both countries," said Jirayu, quoted by Reuters on February 24.

The raids were the result of joint efforts by Thailand and Cambodia to address fraud centers, he said.

The fraud centers have been operating for years. However, they are now facing new surveillance after the rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was persuaded to Thailand on promises of work, was then kidnapped and taken to fraud centers in Myanmar.

It is known that Southeast Asian countries have stepped up efforts to address fraud centers with recent actions along the Thailand-Myanmar border. Earlier this month, Thailand cut off electricity, fuel and internet supplies to areas linked to fraud centers or online scams.

China has also repatriated 621 of its citizens who were rescued from fraud centers in these areas over the past few days, Thailand's military said on Saturday.

According to the United Nations (UN), hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in fraud centers and illegal online operations across Southeast Asia.

The United Nations report in 2023 estimates the fast-growing operation will generate billions of US dollars annually.