Trafficking rears ugly head again after group of Thais escapes slavery in Cambodia

Southeast Asia’s trafficking problem is rearing its ugly head again, after a group of Thais managed to escape slavery for a Chinese call centre gang in Cambodia today. The call centre is located in the border town of Krong Bavet.

The group of seven Thais posted a Facebook Live video asking for help early this morning. A woman said they were being held at the call centre against their will by security guards and electric fencing.

She said she and other victims had been forced to work for more than 15 hours daily without a break, Nation Thailand reported. The woman said the employers had confiscated their passports and ID cards. She said…

“The call-centre gang demanded up to 100,000 baht in exchange for our freedom.”

The group said they were allowed out of their facility after their employers learned about their cry for help on Facebook. They then took a tuk-tuk to the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh to get help returning home.

Scam gangs have made big headlines this year for trafficking Thais and other Southeast Asians to Cambodia. Traffickers often make adverts promising easy work and cushy benefits, drawing in thousands of young, educated victims.

When the victims arrive at their destinations they are held captive and forced to work in online scam centres known as “fraud factories.” These include love scams, crypto fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling.

In October, it was reported that Thai police had repatriated about 1,300 Thais from the Cambodian city of Sihanoukville between November 2021 and March 2022.

Buildings in Sihanoukville have been adapted for criminal enterprises, according to the Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn. Surachate said that these compounds have high walls around them, with spiked fences, so that people can’t leave without permission.

The abuse at scam centres is brutal for trafficking victims. Victims of some scams have reported being beaten and electrocuted.