Thai police arrest 16 fleeing Poipet scam compound
Thai police arrested 16 people attempting to illegally cross from Cambodia near the Sa Kaeo border after fleeing a crackdown on online scam operations in Poipet, including four Thai nationals who had been recruited to work for an illegal ga
SA KAEO — Fourteen May 2026. Thai authorities arrested 16 people, including Thai, Shan, and Vietnamese nationals, who were attempting to illegally cross from Cambodia into Thailand following a crackdown on online scam and gambling operations in Poipet, officials confirmed Thursday.
At 5:30 am, troops from the Burapha Task Force, Aranyaprathet Special Task Force, and the 12th Ranger Forces Regiment, working with Sa Kaeo provincial forces, intercepted the group near Ban Phu Nam Kliang village in Pa Rai sub-district, Aranyaprathet district, after receiving reports of unauthorized border crossings through unofficial routes.
Officers spotted suspicious individuals crossing the border on foot and moved in to surround and arrest them. The 16 detainees consisted of four Thai nationals, two Vietnamese, and 10 ethnic Shan migrants from Myanmar—all lacking valid travel documents.
During interrogation, the four Thai detainees admitted they had been recruited through contacts to work for the online gambling website UFABET168 in Poipet, attracted by monthly salaries between 15,000 and 25,000 baht. Previously employed as delivery riders, warehouse workers, sales staff, and factory workers, they crossed the border more than a year ago to take these jobs.
Tensions escalating along the Thai-Cambodian border prompted the closure of several checkpoints, leaving them stranded in Poipet accommodations for weeks with no way home. To return, they each paid a Cambodian broker 8,000 baht to arrange transport to an unofficial border crossing. The broker drove them in a Cambodian-registered vehicle before directing them to walk the rest of the way into Thailand.
The 10 ethnic Shan migrants said they had travelled from Siem Reap to Poipet with help from Chinese financiers to work as security guards at a building operated by a Chinese business group. When Cambodian authorities launched operations against call center gangs, scammers, and online crime networks, their employer shut down, forcing them to attempt illegal entry into Thailand to return home.
All suspects were turned over to investigators for legal action. Authorities are expanding their investigation into human smuggling networks, illegal border crossing operations, and financial connections to transnational online gambling enterprises.
