Cambodian troops in on scam
Suea’s mother shows her son’s picture to reporters
The men, who reported their cases on Dec 17 to the Anti-Human Trafficking Division, alleged they were trafficked across the border and forced to work for online scam gangs — with Cambodian soldiers playing a direct role in their capture and transfer.
They say the criminal network involved Thai, Chinese and Cambodian nationals. Most disturbing, they said, was that armed Cambodian soldiers escorted them across the border and handed them over to scam operators.
One victim, a 24-year-old man known as Suea (no other details given) from Chon Buri, remains missing in Cambodia.
His mother, in tears, told reporters that her son had said he was going away for seven days to take part in a paid internship related to dietary supplements.
Just two days later, Suea sent a warning message to a friend who was supposed to join him: “Don’t come. Don’t come at all.” After that, all contact was lost.
On the evening of Dec 6, Suea finally sent a brief message home, saying he was being held in a Cambodian prison on charges linked to the killing of a security guard at the building where he had been forced to work.
He insisted he had not committed the killing, saying the actual perpetrator had fled, and that he and several friends had only fought with guards while trying to escape.
His family later learned he was due to appear in court in Cambodia. Since then, there has been no further contact.
His mother pleaded with Thai authorities to intervene and bring her son home, saying he had been deceived and sold into the operation by fellow Thais.
She said she could barely function from worry and feared for the many other Thai victims still trapped across the border.
The second victim, Pao (no other details given) 38, from Buri Ram, managed to escape and return to Thailand.
He said he had been recruited through a Facebook job posting offering work in the dietary supplement business in Bangkok.
Instead, he was taken to Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo province, then driven off-route into a sugarcane field near Klong Nam Sai.
There, he said, armed Cambodian soldiers surrounded and detained him and others, marched them across a canal into Cambodia, and handed them over to Chinese financiers and Thai supervisors.
Pao said he was taken to a scam compound, separated from his group, stripped of his ID card, and forced to surrender phone and bank passwords.
His facial data was scanned and five bank accounts — including personal accounts — were turned into “mule” accounts used for fraud.
He was later told he would be sent home. Instead, he was taken to a hotel guarded by armed Cambodian soldiers and informed he had been “sold” and could not leave.
He was ordered to make at least 200,000 baht a day in scam revenue. When he resisted, he was threatened.
Seizing a moment when guards were distracted, Pao and another victim fled the hotel and ran into the forest, hiding for an entire night.
They covered more than 8km on foot before encountering Thai rangers patrolling the border, who helped them return safely to Thailand and enter the justice process.
After being charged under immigration law and released on bail, Pao contacted banks to check the accounts that had been seized by the scam gang.
All had been frozen due to fraud complaints already filed in three police jurisdictions: Krathum Baen, Ban Bueng and Pak Chong.
No arrest warrants have yet been issued, though Pao has submitted names of individuals linked to the trafficking network to police.
Tech students fall for con
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| The vocational student with police. |
On Dec 16, Pol Col Somkasem Jaruk, superintendent of Muang station in Kamphaeng Phet, was notified that a student had been lured out of his home by scammers and had suddenly gone silent.
Investigators were sent to a resort in Muang district, where they found the victim, a 19-year-old student, alone in a room — frightened, confused and moments away from transferring a large sum of money.
Police say the student was contacted by scammers posing as officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), accusing him of being linked to a money-laundering case involving so-called mule accounts.
He was instructed to book a resort room and remain on a video call while the scammers guided him step by step.
The gang ordered him to keep the door locked and warned he would be shot if he left the room.
They demanded access to his bank accounts and attempted to pressure him into transferring 25,000 baht. Police arrived before the money was sent.
The rescue was made possible after the student’s parents were unable to contact him and discovered they had been blocked on all channels.
Alarmed, they asked relatives to trace his location using GPS data linked to his email account. Once the coordinates were identified, police moved in quickly.
The student, identified as Rainbow (no other details given), later told investigators the scammers had first contacted him by phone shortly before he was due to attend classes.
He was instructed to add a Line account falsely claiming to belong to the DSI and follow their orders without informing anyone.
He was asked to send payment slips, record statements supposedly for court proceedings, and take screenshots of his bank details under the pretext of “verification”.
In a similar case just hours earlier, another student from the same college also fell victim to the scam.
Believing the callers were genuine DSI officers, he transferred money twice, losing a total of 7,384 baht.
The student, unnamed in news reports, said the money came from his government student loan fund and savings earned from freelance drafting work.
Realising too late he had been deceived, he reported the case to police.
Rainbow’s father said he had been deeply worried when his son stopped answering calls and blocked all contact.
“When the police found him and brought him back safely, I was so relieved,” he said, thanking investigators for their swift action.
Police later interviewed both students and took their complaints.
Dedication to a cause
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| Students performed the ‘khon’ dance at a funeral for a soldier despite being involved in an accident when their bus crashed. |
A troupe of dramatic arts students involved in a nasty traffic accident in Krabi decided to press ahead with the noble aim of their trip — performing at the funeral of a soldier who fell in the Thai-Cambodia border conflict.
The students from Nakhon Si Thammarat College of Dramatic Arts travelled to Wat Tham Kob in Khao Phanom district on Dec 18 to perform a khon dance in honour of the fallen soldier.
The performance took place during the royal cremation ceremony of Staff Sgt Thawirat Rattanaburi, 37, who was killed in combat while serving on the Thai–Cambodian border in Ubon Ratchathani on Dec 13.
Just hours before, the double-decker bus carrying around 40 students and teachers to the ceremony was involved in a collision with an 18-wheel truck on the Khao Phanom–Thung Yai highway in Krabi.
The crash left more than a dozen people injured — one seriously, several moderately, and many with minor injuries.
Rescue teams took the wounded to Khao Phanom Hospital, with the most seriously cases transferred to Krabi Hospital. Two students remained hospitalised.
Despite the accident — and their bruises, bandages and shock — the troupe chose not to turn back. Much of their equipment and costumes had been trapped inside the damaged bus, making it impossible to perform in full traditional attire.
Still, the students went ahead, performing scenes from the Ramakien, including the battle between Phra Ram and Thotsakan, directly in front of the crematorium.
An instructor accompanying the group of students said the decision had been unanimous.
After being contacted by the host family, the troupe sought permission from the college administration to proceed, determined to pay their respects and honour a soldier who had given his life in defence of the country.
As the final movements ended, the audience — family members, officials and mourners — rose in sustained applause, a gesture of admiration for the students’ resolve and spirit.
When the ceremony hosts later offered financial support in appreciation, the troupe quietly donated the money back as a merit-making offering. The applause rang out once more.
Also present was Lipikar Kamlangchai, an inspector from the Ministry of Culture and representative of the permanent secretary, who spoke to the teachers and students to offer encouragement.
She said the incident would be reported to the ministry so further assistance could be considered, particularly for those still receiving treatment.
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