China and Thailand Intensify Efforts Against Burmese Crime Networks

Report by Richard Sanders and ๅœ‹้š›ๅ’Œๅนณ็ฆๆฏ’ๅŸบ้‡‘ๆœƒใ€Š IFPEOC ใ€‹ ๆœƒๅ“ก Olivia Lan

February 21, 2025

Beijing and Bangkok are ramping up their efforts to curb criminal gangs originating from China, which have been involved in scamming and kidnapping Chinese tourists in Thailand. The recent crackdown has led to a decline in Chinese tourists, who are increasingly perceiving Thailand as a dangerous destination.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra addressed the issue in January, following the disappearance and subsequent rescue of two high-profile Chinese tourists in Myanmar. โ€œTourism is the countryโ€™s main source of income. I donโ€™t want it to be affected,โ€ she said, emphasizing the need to enhance security measures for tourists.

Scammers have employed various tactics, including imitating the voice of former President Donald Trump, in failed attempts to extort money. The organized crime gangs from China have allegedly infiltrated Thailandโ€™s interior ministry, police, and immigration departments, securing long-term visas, investing in property, and running nightclubs. They have also been involved in drug smuggling and other illegal activities.

According to the US Institute of Peace (USIP), Americans lost an estimated $3.5 billion to โ€œChina-origin criminal networksโ€ operating internet scams from Southeast Asia in 2023. The USIP report highlighted that the United States and China are the most affected by the online scamming industry.

Chinese officials revealed that unsuspecting individuals are lured to Thailand with promises of high-paying jobs, including housing and other perks. Once they arrive, they are kidnapped, smuggled across the border, and forced to work in heavily guarded compounds in Myanmar. Here, they engage in extensive internet scams, known as โ€œpig butcheringโ€ or โ€œsha zhu pan,โ€ where they trick people into transferring money to the gangs.

These scam operations are primarily based in Myanmar, with some also located in Cambodia, Laos, and other regions. Shutting them down is challenging, as they are often situated in areas controlled by minority ethnic guerrillas seeking autonomy or independence.

In Cambodia, the scam centers are based in cities like Sihanoukville and Poipet, where they are allegedly protected by violence and bribery. Investigators and security forces believe that the majority of these operations are run by Chinese gangs based in China, with staggering numbers of fraudsters and victims involved.

ไธญๅœ‹ๅ’Œๆณฐๅœ‹ๅŠ ๅผทๆ‰“ๆ“Š็ทฌ็”ธ็Šฏ็ฝช็ถฒ็ตก

Report by Richard Sanders and ๅœ‹้š›ๅ’Œๅนณ็ฆๆฏ’ๅŸบ้‡‘ๆœƒใ€Š IFPEOC ใ€‹ ๆœƒๅ“ก Olivia Lan

ๅŒ—ไบฌๅ’Œๆ›ผ่ฐทๆญฃๅœจๅŠ ๅคงๅŠ›ๅบฆๆ‰“ๆ“Šๆบ่‡ชไธญๅœ‹็š„็Šฏ็ฝชๅœ˜ไผ™๏ผŒ้€™ไบ›ๅœ˜ไผ™ๅœจๆณฐๅœ‹ๅพžไบ‹่ฉ้จ™ๅ’Œ็ถๆžถไธญๅœ‹้Šๅฎขใ€‚ๆœ€่ฟ‘็š„้Žฎๅฃ“่กŒๅ‹•ๅฐŽ่‡ดไธญๅœ‹้Šๅฎขๆธ›ๅฐ‘๏ผŒ่ถŠไพ†่ถŠๅคš็š„ไบบ่ช็‚บๆณฐๅœ‹ๆ˜ฏไธ€ๅ€‹ๅฑ้šช็š„็›ฎ็š„ๅœฐใ€‚

ๆณฐๅœ‹็ธฝ็†่ฒๆฑไธนยท่ฅฟ้‚ฃ็“ฆๅœจไธ€ๆœˆ้‡ๅฐๅ…ฉๅๅœจ็ทฌ็”ธๅคฑ่นคไธฆ้šจๅพŒ็ฒๆ•‘็š„้ซ˜่ชฟไธญๅœ‹้Šๅฎขไบ‹ไปถ็™ผ่กจ่ฌ›่ฉฑๆ™‚่กจ็คบ๏ผšใ€Œๆ—…้Šๆฅญๆ˜ฏ่ฉฒๅœ‹็š„ไธป่ฆๆ”ถๅ…ฅไพ†ๆบ๏ผŒๆˆ‘ไธๅธŒๆœ›ๅฎƒๅ—ๅˆฐๅฝฑ้Ÿฟใ€‚ใ€ๅฅนๅผท่ชฟ้œ€่ฆๅŠ ๅผท้Šๅฎข็š„ๅฎ‰ๅ…จๆŽชๆ–ฝใ€‚

่ฉ้จ™่€…ไฝฟ็”จๅ„็จฎๆ‰‹ๆฎต๏ผŒๅŒ…ๆ‹ฌๆจกไปฟๅ‰็พŽๅœ‹็ธฝ็ตฑๅ”็ดๅพทยท็‰นๆœ—ๆ™ฎ็š„่ฒ้Ÿณ๏ผŒ่ฉฆๅœ–ๆ•ฒ่ฉ้Œข่ฒก๏ผŒไฝ†ๆœช่ƒฝๆˆๅŠŸใ€‚ไพ†่‡ชไธญๅœ‹็š„ๆœ‰็ต„็น”็Šฏ็ฝชๅœ˜ไผ™ๆ“š็จฑๆปฒ้€ๅˆฐๆณฐๅœ‹็š„ๅ…งๆ”ฟ้ƒจใ€่ญฆๅฏŸๅ’Œ็งปๆฐ‘้ƒจ้–€๏ผŒ็ฒๅ–้•ทๆœŸ็ฐฝ่ญ‰ใ€ๆŠ•่ณ‡ๆˆฟๅœฐ็”ขใ€็ถ“็‡Ÿๅคœ็ธฝๆœƒใ€‚ไป–ๅ€‘้‚„ๆถ‰ๅŠๆฏ’ๅ“่ตฐ็งๅ’Œๅ…ถไป–้žๆณ•ๆดปๅ‹•ใ€‚

ๆ นๆ“š็พŽๅœ‹ๅ’Œๅนณ็ ”็ฉถๆ‰€๏ผˆUSIP๏ผ‰็š„ๅ ฑๅ‘Š๏ผŒ2023ๅนด๏ผŒ็พŽๅœ‹ไบบๅ› ใ€Œๆบ่‡ชไธญๅœ‹็š„็Šฏ็ฝช็ถฒ็ตกใ€ๅœจๆฑๅ—ไบž้‹่กŒ็š„ไบ’่ฏ็ถฒ่ฉ้จ™ๆๅคฑไผฐ่จˆ้”ๅˆฐ35ๅ„„็พŽๅ…ƒใ€‚็พŽๅœ‹ๅ’Œๅนณ็ ”็ฉถๆ‰€็š„ๅ ฑๅ‘Šๅผท่ชฟ๏ผŒ็พŽๅœ‹ๅ’Œไธญๅœ‹ๆ˜ฏๅœจ็ทš่ฉ้จ™่กŒๆฅญ็š„ไธป่ฆๅ—ๅฎณ่€…ใ€‚

ไธญๅœ‹ๅฎ˜ๅ“ก้€้œฒ๏ผŒ็„ก่พœ็š„ไบบ่ขซ่ช˜้จ™ๅˆฐๆณฐๅœ‹๏ผŒๆ‰ฟ่ซพ้ซ˜่–ชๅทฅไฝœ๏ผŒๅŒ…ๆ‹ฌไฝๆˆฟๅ’Œๅ…ถไป–็ฆๅˆฉใ€‚ไธ€ๆ—ฆไป–ๅ€‘ๆŠต้”๏ผŒไป–ๅ€‘ๅฐฑๆœƒ่ขซ็ถๆžถ๏ผŒ่ตฐ็ง้Žๅขƒ๏ผŒไธฆ่ขซ่ฟซๅœจ็ทฌ็”ธ็š„้‡ๅ…ตๆŠŠๅฎˆ็š„็‡Ÿๅœฐๅทฅไฝœใ€‚ๅœจ้€™่ฃก๏ผŒไป–ๅ€‘ๅพžไบ‹ๅปฃๆณ›็š„ไบ’่ฏ็ถฒ่ฉ้จ™ๆดปๅ‹•๏ผŒ้€™ไบ›่ฉ้จ™่ขซ็จฑ็‚บใ€Œๆฎบ่ฑฌ็›คใ€๏ผŒๅ…ถไธญไป–ๅ€‘้€š้Ž่ค‡้›œ็š„่ฉ้จ™ๆ‰‹ๆฎต้จ™ๅ–ไบบๅ€‘็š„้Œข่ฒกใ€‚

้€™ไบ›่ฉ้จ™ๆดปๅ‹•ไธป่ฆๅœจ็ทฌ็”ธ้€ฒ่กŒ๏ผŒ้ƒจๅˆ†ๅ‰‡ไฝๆ–ผๆŸฌๅŸ”ๅฏจใ€่€ๆ’พ็ญ‰ๅœฐใ€‚้€™ไบ›่ฉ้จ™ไธญๅฟƒ้›ฃไปฅๅ–็ท ๏ผŒๅ› ็‚บๅฎƒๅ€‘ๅพ€ๅพ€ไฝๆ–ผๅฐ‘ๆ•ธๆฐ‘ๆ—ๆญฆ่ฃๆธธๆ“Š้šŠๆŽงๅˆถ็š„ๅœฐๅ€๏ผŒ้€™ไบ›ๆญฆ่ฃๆธธๆ“Š้šŠๅœจ็ทฌ็”ธๆฑ้ƒจใ€ๅŒ—้ƒจๅ’Œ่ฅฟ้ƒจ้‚Šๅขƒ็ˆญๅ–่‡ชๆฒปๆˆ–็จ็ซ‹ใ€‚

ๅœจๆŸฌๅŸ”ๅฏจ๏ผŒ้€™ไบ›่ฉ้จ™ไธญๅฟƒไฝๆ–ผ่ฅฟๅ“ˆๅŠชๅ…‹ๅŸŽๅ’Œๆณข่ฒ็ญ‰ๅŸŽๅธ‚๏ผŒๆ“š็จฑๅ—ๅˆฐๆšดๅŠ›ๅ’Œ่ณ„่ณ‚็š„ไฟ่ญทใ€‚่ชฟๆŸฅไบบๅ“กๅ’Œๅฎ‰ๅ…จ้ƒจ้šŠ่ช็‚บ๏ผŒๅคงๅคšๆ•ธ้€™ไบ›ๆดปๅ‹•็”ฑไฝๆ–ผไธญๅœ‹็š„ไธญๅœ‹ๅœ˜ไผ™้‹็‡Ÿ๏ผŒ่ฉ้จ™่€…ๅ’Œๅ—ๅฎณ่€…็š„ๆ•ธ้‡้ฉšไบบใ€‚