Thailand completes transferring some 900 scam victims from Myanmar to China: PM Srettha

The Chinese nationals were transported from Myanmar’s border town of Myawaddy to Thailand’s Mae Sot, where they were transferred to Chinese planes

Thai deputy police chief Surachae Hakparn said the operation involved 15 flights over three days to return Chinese scam victims to China

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Vehicles at a border checkpoint in Myanmar’s Myawaddy township wait to cross into Thailand. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:58pm, 3 Mar 2024Updated: 12:05am, 4 Mar 2024

Thailand has in the last week helped facilitate the transfer of some 900 Chinese nationals who had been trapped in scam centres in a Myanmar border town back to China, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Sunday.

Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, has become a hub for telecoms and other online fraud, according to the United Nations, with hundreds of thousands of people trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centres and other illegal operations.

The operation, which Thai police say started last Thursday and was completed on Saturday, involved transporting the Chinese nationals from Myanmar’s border town of Myawaddy to an airport in the Thai border district of Mae Sot, where they were transferred to Chinese planes.

“This was a joint voluntary operation between three countries, China, Myanmar and Thailand,” Prime Minister Srettha said.

“The process was done voluntarily, based on humanitarian principles, it was not forced,” Srettha said, adding that Thailand had facilitated the transfer to the flights at Mae Sot.

Thai deputy police chief Surachae Hakparn said the operation involved 15 flights over three days to return Chinese scam victims to China.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. Photo: Thai Government House/Xinhua

The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Myanmar’s military spokesperson also did not respond to a call seeking comment.

Thailand completes transferring some 900 scam victims from Myanmar to China: PM Srettha

The Chinese nationals were transported from Myanmar’s border town of Myawaddy to Thailand’s Mae Sot, where they were transferred to Chinese planes Thai deputy police chief Surachae Hakparn said the operation involved 15 flights over three days to return Chinese scam victims to China

The Chinese nationals were transported from Myanmar’s border town of Myawaddy to Thailand’s Mae Sot, where they were transferred to Chinese planes

Thai deputy police chief Surachae Hakparn said the operation involved 15 flights over three days to return Chinese scam victims to China