Call centre scam victims rescued from Myanmar’s clutches
Sixty-one hapless victims, duped by call centre scammers and whisked away to Myanmar, yesterday made a triumphant return to Thailand.
Courtesy of the Myanmar Border Guard Force, the rescued victims were handed over to Thai officials at the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Bridge in the Mae Sot district of Tak province.
The rescue mission was graced by none other than Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who made the border crossing himself to welcome the returnees before they faced the customary immigration screening.
The diverse group hails from the Shwe Kokko complex in Myawaddy and includes 39 Chinese nationals, 13 Indians, one Kazakh, five Indonesians, one Ethiopian, one Pakistani, and one Malaysian.
Amidst his inspection of the border, Phumtham revealed that the government is scrutinising the fallout from cutting electricity supplies to three notorious Myanmar regions, all criminal hotbeds, located just across the border from Tak, Kanchanaburi, and Chiang Rai provinces.
This bold power shutdown started on Wednesday, February 5, and while it’s early days, its full ramifications remain under wraps. Phumtham continued on to Mae Sot to review the hardline measures targeting drug and human trafficking along this restless border.
As dual-hatted as a deputy prime minister, Phumtham conveyed that early reviews suggest minimal impact on Thai border communities from the power cut.
Meanwhile, on the Myanmar side, outcomes are still under tight assessment. Whisperings from Myanmar hint at a different story: while households and small businesses are reeling, large crime syndicates, allegedly led by Chinese nationals, are smugly operating on their own generators.
The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) confessed that the power cut will gobble up approximately 600 million baht annually, a mere drop in the ocean, just 0.1% of its total income. Despite looming economic losses, the deputy prime minister was resolute: national security reigns supreme.
Phumtham triumphantly noted that following the debut of the power cut, shady dealings like call-centre scams in Shwe Kokko have allegedly nosedived by about 40%.
On the topic of Myanmar possibly eyeing electricity purchases from Laos, Phumtham simply stated that they hold every right to do so. However, he double-downed on Thailand’s top priority: fortifying its borders and obliterating criminal operations lurking in the shadows.
Back home, these call-centre scams have wreaked havoc, spawning a staggering 557,500 criminal cases and sucking over 86 billion baht from pockets, amounting to a chilling 80 million baht daily in losses, according to exasperated Thai officials.
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