Thailand considers wall on Cambodia border

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is briefed by police on the cross-border situation during her border visit to Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province on Friday. (Photo: Government House)
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is briefed by police on the cross-border situation during her border visit to Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province on Friday. (Photo: Government House)

Thailand will study the feasibility of building a wall along part of its border with Cambodia to prevent illegal crossings, government spokesman Jirayu Houngsub said on Monday.

The wall would be part of efforts to hit the network of call-scam centres based just outside Thailand's borders and whose global victims include large numbers of Thais. 

The crackdown on these criminal organisations involved in massive financial fraud, mostly operated by Chinese gangsters based in Cambodia and Myanmar, is being expanded.

Hundreds of thousands of people believing they were going to legitimate jobs have been trafficked by these criminal gangs in recent years and held in virtual slavery, according to the United Nations.

At the weekend, Thai police received 119 Thai nationals from Cambodian authorities after a raid in the Cambodian border town of Poipet rescued at least 215 people held in a scammer's compound.

Mr Jirayu said the possible construction of a wall was one idea discussed at Monday's cabinet meeting. The Foreign and Defence ministries were assigned to hold talks on the matter with Cambodian authorities, he said 

The Cambodian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the wall proposal.

Thailand and Cambodia share a border of 817 kilometres. The Thai Defence Ministry has previously proposed a wall along a 55-kilometre stretch of the border with many natural crossings in the Sa Kaeo-Poipet area. It is currently protected by razor wire.

Vocabulary

  • border: the official line separating two areas, regions or countries - เขตแดน อาณาเขต
  • cabinet: the group of government ministers who make and approve government policy - คณะรัฐมนตรี
  • consider: to give careful thought to something before making a decision - พิจารณา
  • crackdown: strong action that someone in authority takes to stop a particular activity - การใช้กำลังเข้าปราบปรามของเจ้าหน้าที่
  • fraud: the crime of intentionally deceiving someone or cheating in order to gain an advantage or benefit - การฉ้อโกง การหลอกลวง เล่ห์เพทุบาย
  • legitimate: allowed by the law, or correct according to the law - ชอบด้วยกฎหมาย
  • proposal: a plan or suggestion for a group to consider - ข้อเสนอ
  • raid (noun): using force or legal authority to enter a place suddenly in order to arrest people or search for something such as illegal weapons or drugs - การเข้าตรวจค้น
  • razor-wire barriers: a gate or structure made of very sharp wire that stops people or vehicles from entering an area - รั้วลวดหนามที่นำมาใช้กั้นการจราจร ไม่ให้คนผ่านไปมาได้
  • scam: a dishonest plan, especially for getting money - กลโกง, แผนร้าย
  • slavery: the practice of owning people , of having "slaves" - ความเป็นทาส, การเป็นทาส
  • traffick: to obtain and sell things illegally, especially illegal drugs - ค้าขายยาเสพย์ติดหรือมนุษย์

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