Chinese and Thai security authorities visited border areas in Thailand’s Tak province on Wednesday to work out measures to help victims of Chinese scam gangs based in Myawaddy across the border in Myanmar.
The visit came a day after the provincial police commander removed the police chiefs of three districts in Tak—Mae Sot, Phop Phra and Mae Ramat—from their posts for failing to curb trafficking in people and illicit activity in the border province.
Liu Zhongyi, a Chinese assistant minister of public security, led a delegation that arrived at the Mae Sot airport on Wednesday. They were met by Police Major General Samrit Amkamol, the provincial police chief, before they went to inspect areas along the border at Wang Kaew Village in Tambon Mae Pa. Local police and soldiers provided security for the Chinese delegation.
The delegation wanted to get a closer look across the Moei River at Myawaddy town, where Chinese nationals have invested huge sums in casino and entertainment complexes. They then went to Mae Kumai Thasung Village Moo 9 in Tambon Mae Ku of Mae Sot district, which offers a good view of the KK Park casino in Myanmar.
After receiving the briefing about Chinese investments in the area, Liu and his delegation returned to Mae Sot for talks with Thai officials at the immigration checkpoint in Tak.
The Chinese delegation’s visit was aimed at working out ways to help an estimated 160 Chinese citizens who are known to be victims of scam gangs in Myawaddy, after Thai and Chinese authorities agreed to set up a coordinating center in Thailand to suppress human trafficking.
Samrit said the Chinese assistant minister also wanted to discuss joint cooperation to provide safety for tourists, with officials from Myanmar also involved in the talks.
He said that strict measures would continue, including screening foreign nationals and inspecting hotels to prevent human trafficking and scams.
The Chinese delegation reportedly inspected a new tourist service venue at Mae Sot airport to screen and warn people against falling victim to human trafficking gangs and being lured to work as scammers in Myanmar.
Scam gangs have been using Thailand as a trafficking route for some time, but it has taken a high-profile case involving a Chinese actor—and the potential for a big hit to tourism—to jolt Thai authorities into action.
Local media reported that Chinese authorities said they had made 20 arrests in connection with the trafficking of the actor, Wang Xing, who was rescued from Myawaddy earlier this month.
Chinese authorities have identified 36 major Chinese call-center scam gangs employing more than 100,000 callers to defraud their victims, most of them Chinese, of money.
The Chinese assistant minister shared the information during a meeting with Pol. Lieutenant General Trairong Phiwpan, commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, during a meeting at the bureau in Nonthaburi on Monday.
This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post.
