The government has returned about 400 million baht seized from a Chinese online scam gang to the Chinese government, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said on Tuesday.
Mr Wissanu said he and his team went to Beijing to return the money to their Chinese counterparts after officials from the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) and police arrested the gang living in luxurious condominium units in Bangkok last year.
He said Amlo reported that the gang lured about 33,000 Chinese people into investing in an e-commerce business in China. After getting their victims' money, the scammers fled to Thailand and used the money to buy property.
After the scammers were arrested and charged last year, their assets were sold for about 400 million baht, he said, adding the Thai government told Beijing they wanted to return the money to the victims via the Chinese government.
Mr Wissanu said the money was handed to Chinese State Councill and Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong when the two met in Beijing on July 19.
"We are pleased to learn from the minister that it is the first time that the Chinese government has received damages caused by Chinese scammers from the government of another country," the acting deputy prime minister added.
Beijing extended its gratitude by offering two fellowships to Amlo officials every year.
Mr Wissanu said more such cooperation in law enforcement and security will be looked at in the future.
Wang said that the two peoples enjoy profound friendship. In particular, the two sides announced last year to jointly build a China-Thailand community with a shared future, which opened a new era of China-Thailand relations.
China is ready to work with Thailand to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen practical cooperation in law enforcement and security, safeguard the building of the China-Thailand community with a shared future, and bring more benefits to the two countries and two peoples, said Wang.