35 Thais detained after allegedly being forced to work in Cambodia
Thai police yesterday, January 15, detained 35 Thai nationals near the Aranyaprathet border in Sa Kaeo province after they illegally crossed back from Cambodia, claiming they had been unknowingly taken out of the country and forced into online scam operations.
The Burapha Task Force, along with rangers from the 12th unit’s Company 1206, found the group walking along a forested path near border markers 49 and 50, about 250 metres from the Thai-Cambodian canal in Ban Noen Sombun, Khlong Nam Sai.
The group consisted of 27 men and eight women, all Thai nationals. Officials found 34 national ID cards and one copy of a house registration document among them. No trafficker or guide was present at the time of arrest. The returnees told officials they had been contacted earlier this month via the Line app with job offers in Sa Kaeo, promising monthly wages of 15,000 to 30,000 baht.
However, upon arrival, they said they were unknowingly taken across the border into Cambodia through a natural route and brought to a casino building in Poipet. Once inside, they were forced to make mule accounts and had to submit facial scans. They were frequently moved from place to place.
The group claimed that when the mule accounts were frozen by Thai authorities, their Thai handlers told them they would be sent back. Cambodian nationals were reportedly hired to escort them to the border in Malai district, Banteay Meanchey province.
From there, they were directed to cross back into Thailand on foot, where they were ultimately caught by Thai police, reported CH7 News.
After questioning, all 35 individuals were handed over to Khlong Nam Sai Police Station for legal processing. Authorities are now working to trace the trafficking network and identify individuals involved in luring Thai workers into cross-border scams.
Similarly, just last week, a Thai woman reported to police that she was deceived into travelling to Cambodia, where she was detained, forced to work for a scam operation, and later released after her bank accounts were frozen.
