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Thailand launches alliance against online scams (amid war with Cambodia)
A conference organised with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime saw the launch of a global partnership against scam centres. Meta and TikTok have joined the initiative. Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is working to mediate between Thailand and Cambodia.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – With so-called scam centres as one of the factors of renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia, Bangkok today launched an initiative called the "Global Partnership Against Online Scams."
The announcement came at the end of an international conference held yesterday and today in the Thai capital in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The partnership agreement – signed so far by Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates – seeks to fight criminal organisations based largely in Southeast Asia and estimated to swindle billions of dollars out of victims worldwide each year.
The deal calls for political commitment, law enforcement cooperation, victim protection, public awareness, and cross-border collaboration.
The conference received support from the private sector, including Internet giants Meta and TikTok.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, also released a threat report highlighting the growing use of artificial intelligence by scam networks and the protocols the company is adopting in an effort to stop scams on its social media platforms.
According to UNODC estimates, scam victims lost between US$ 18 and US$ 37 billion in 2023.
The importance of private partnerships in anti-fraud initiatives was emphasised during the two-day conference in the Thai capital, attended by more than 300 delegates from nearly 60 countries.
Recent raids on scam centres in Myanmar, issues related to the repatriation of victims to Thailand, and the death of a South Korean student forced to work in a scam centre in Cambodia have fuelled calls for regional action.
Cambodia is known as a hub for scam centres, a fact that Thailand is exploiting in the ongoing conflict.
Even today, the Thai air force bombed the Cambodian city of Poipet, a bustling casino hub popular with Thai gamblers. The attack damaged a warehouse and other property, leaving two civilians wounded.
Fighting between the two Southeast Asian countries, which resumed on 7 December, has already resulted in the deaths of dozens of people on both sides of the border and has displaced more than 800,000.
Meanwhile, China is playing a role in the crisis. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate telephone conversations today with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn and Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow.
According to official Chinese media reports, both the Cambodian and Thai sides briefed Wang on the latest developments in their border war and expressed their willingness to reduce tensions and implement a ceasefire.
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