Cambodia Becomes A Nest Of Fraud, Thailand Assesses To Build Border Walls To Prevent Illegal Crossing

JAKARTA - Thailand is studying the idea of building a wall in part of its border with Cambodia to prevent illegal crossings,

The border wall plan is in line with the increasing effort to dismantle the wide network of illegal fraud centers.

This crackdown is increasingly widespread against fraud centers responsible for committing massive financial fraud in Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand's border areas prone to Myanmar and Cambodia, where hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked by criminal gangs in recent years, according to the United Nations.

On weekends, Thai police received 119 Thai nationals from Cambodian authorities after raids in the city of Poipet pulled more than 215 people out of the fraud complex.

This is a study, said Thai government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub on the proposed wall, without specifying the timeframe.

A Cambodian government spokesman declined to comment on the proposed wall. Its foreign ministry spokesman did not immediately respond to a response request.

Thailand and Cambodia share a border of 817 km (508 miles).

Thailand's Ministry of Defense has previously proposed a wall to block a 55 km natural crossing between Thailand's Sa Kaeo provinces and Poipet, which are currently protected only by barbed wire.

The telecommunications fraud center has been operating for years in Southeast Asia, ensnaring people from various countries to West Africa.

They faced tighter scrutiny after the rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing in January, who was persuaded to Thailand with promises of work before being kidnapped and taken to fraud centers in Myanmar.

In Myawaddy, Myanmar, more than 7,000 foreigners mostly from China are waiting to cross from Thailand, who are coordinating with the embassy to try to simplify their repatriation.

Hundreds of foreigners who were pulled out of the camps were displaced in militia camps in Myanmar and struggling to find a way home, according to several detainees.

Meanwhile, a Thai lawmaker last week said the crackdown was insufficient, and estimated 300,000 people had been operating in camps in Myawaddy.