China, Thailand pledge joint action on Myanmar cyber scam centres, human trafficking

Chinese ministry team visits Thailand to seek ways to tackle at least 36 major cyber scam gangs, days ahead of Thai leader’s China trip

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Myanmar’s Myawaddy town as seen from across the border in Mae Sot, Thailand. Authorities in China have identified 36 major Chinese telecoms scam gangs operating in the Myawaddy region. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:37pm, 30 Jan 2025Updated: 8:23pm, 30 Jan 2025

China and Thailand have pledged to jointly crack down on dozens of cyber scam gangs in Myanmar and related human trafficking, including setting up at least one coordination centre, according to Thai media reports.

This comes as a delegation from China’s Ministry of Public Security, led by assistant minister Liu Zhongyi, continues its visit to Thailand to seek ways to tackle the cross-border problem.

Authorities in China had identified 36 major Chinese telecoms scam gangs operating in the Myawaddy region of southeastern Myanmar, Liu – who is also a senior police officer – told Thailand’s chief cybercrime investigator on Monday, the reports said.

The gangs had more than 100,000 people running phone scams to defraud victims – most of them Chinese, Liu said during his meeting with Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), at its office near Bangkok.

Many Chinese citizens had been lured or deceived into working for these gangs in Myanmar, and some of these individuals were reportedly assaulted and some even lost their lives, Liu was quoted as saying by The Nation.

The CCIB proposed that the two sides exchange information about the scam gangs and their trafficking activities, and that Chinese authorities support Thailand in locating and capturing the gang leaders and blocking the transfer of victims’ money to scammers’ accounts.