Appeals Court Dismisses Charges Against Boxing Camp Owner

On September 8, 2025, the Criminal Court on Ratchadamri Road announced an appeals court ruling in case 9/2556, in which prosecutors from the Human Trafficking Division charged Chinese national Ahyong (defendant 1) and Ms. Pojnee (surname withheld, defendant 2) with conspiracy and human trafficking through forced labor exploitation. The charges arose from an October 31, 2022 police arrest following complaints from seven victims who responded to online job advertisements between January and May 2021, only to be coerced into traveling to Myawaddy, Myanmar, where they were forced to work as scammers defrauding Thai citizens. Victims reported 12-hour daily shifts with no days off, physical beatings, electric shocks for non-compliance, and demands for ransom to return home.

The trial court had dismissed charges against defendant 1 due to contradictory witness testimony. Some victims testified to seeing Ahyong in Mae Sod District, Tak Province, while others could not confirm seeing him at the trafficking operation's headquarters in Myawaddy. Defendant 2 also testified never meeting defendant 1 at the operation. The appeals court agreed that witness accounts contained sufficient doubt regarding defendant 1's involvement, warranting dismissal without detention pending final appeal. However, the appeals court upheld defendant 2's guilt, finding she willingly participated in the scamming operation and trained deceived workers. The court determined she was not coerced, unlike the victims, and imposed a revised sentence of 4 years for conspiracy plus 8 years for organized human trafficking, with a reduction of one-third to total 7 years 12 months imprisonment. She must also pay 300,000 to 500,000 baht in compensation to each of the seven victims. Defendant 1 was acquitted and released pending cassation appeal.