Over a hundred Thais repatriated from Cambodia scam centre Victims or accomplices

BANGKOK - Thai authorities have deployed more than 100 police officers to conduct in-depth interrogations of 119 Thai nationals repatriated from a call centre scam operation in Poipet, Cambodia.

The screening aims to distinguish genuine victims from accomplices to prevent those involved from falsely claiming victimhood to evade prosecution. The group, repatriated on March 1, has been placed under Thailand’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

Accounts from detainees

During questioning, a 17-year-old girl stated that she had initially travelled with the intent of working for an online gambling website. However, upon arrival, she was reassigned to work as a call centre scammer.

She crossed the border through an unofficial route near a shopping mall in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province. After crossing, a man picked her up and transported her to an office building before she was taken to a dormitory consisting of single-storey rental rooms.

She was given a place to stay and a mattress, resting for one day before observing work and then beginning her duties.

The minor was promised a salary of up to 23,000 baht (S$910) per month but never received payment as she had worked for only two weeks before her arrest by Cambodian authorities.

She did not attempt to escape due to a lack of funds and stated that her workplace housed no more than 20 Thai workers.

Her role involved impersonating an electricity authority officer to scam victims over the phone. She confirmed that while in Poipet, she could use her phone without restrictions.

Structured scam operations

Another detainee, a male suspect arrested on Feb 22, admitted to posing as an electricity authority officer. He was part of a structured operation involving multiple call centre roles:

Line 1: Contacted victims, falsely claiming their electricity meter was damaged and assuring them a technician would replace