The Royal Thai Police (RTP) estimate that 10,000 foreign nationals will be rescued from call scam centres in Myanmar as authorities ramp up a crackdown on transnational crime syndicates near the Thai border.
Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, director of the RTP’s Anti-Human Trafficking Center and Police Cyber Taskforce, said on Monday that Thai authorities are holding talks with their Myanmar counterparts under the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) framework to verify and return victims of human trafficking and call centre scammers to their countries.
He said Thailand only acts as a facilitator, and if they are verified as victims and want to pursue legal action against traffickers or scammers, they must file their complaints with Myanmar authorities.
He was speaking after a meeting at the RTP headquarters in Bangkok on Monday to address issues related to call centre scams and human trafficking near the Thai border. It was attended by representatives of foreign embassies, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the US embassy’s Homeland Security Investigations office.
Pol Gen Thatchai said attendees at the meeting shared information to identify the scammers’ locations and distinguish victims from perpetrators.
He added that the RTP has also created an online platform to exchange further information with embassies and work together to tackle scammers and traffickers.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday that the presence and activities of China’s Assistant Minister for Public Security, Liu Zhongyi, are part of a three-country joint operation against Chinese call-scam gangs based in Myanmar.
Mr Phumtham was responding to criticism that China was bypassing Thai authorities in rescuing and repatriating Chinese lured into working for the gangsters at centres in Myanmar near the Thai border.
“Thailand, Myanmar and China have been collaborating on this matter for two months,” said Mr Phumtham, who also serves as deputy prime minister.
He said Mr Liu had discussed the joint operation with him and the home affairs minister of Myanmar, and he would meet Mr Liu again on Wednesday to follow up on the operation’s progress.
He said a group of Chinese rescued from call scam centres in Myanmar will be brought to Thailand and then sent to China. But first, they will have to complete procedures in Myanmar.
He said gang members would be separated and arrested during the operation.
Mr Phumtham said the anti-scam operation began with power, oil and the internet being cut off to force the Myanmar government and ethnic groups to suppress scam gangs on their soil, and the initial measure was effective.
In Kanchanaburi, sources said that personnel from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) arrested 86 Chinese people suspected of operating call scams in Payathonzu township, opposite tambon Nong Lu of Sangkhla Buri district, on Sunday.
They were taken into custody at a facility where an online gambling business was operating.
Sources said the operation was part of the DKBA’s efforts to eliminate scam centres in its area by the end of this month.
Thai security representatives observed the operation.
