Trump wants a ceremony between Bangkok and Phnom Penh, but the scam centre issue persists
At the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on 26 October, Malaysia wants to secure a lasting ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia. But the border dispute is also fuelled by the issue of online scam centres. Bangkok blames Phnom Penh for tolerating illegal activities and demands scam centres be dismantled as a condition for peace. Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Anutin is stoking nationalism for domestic consumption ahead of upcoming elections.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – After the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, which should bring peace to the Middle East, according to President Donald Trump, the US leader now wants to attend another summit aimed at settling a conflict.
On 26 October, Trump could fly to Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, to attend the signing of another ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, this according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan.
“During the summit, we hope to see the signing of a declaration known as the Kuala Lumpur Accord between these two neighbours to ensure peace and a lasting ceasefire,” Hasan said today.
On 28 July, after five days of fighting, Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire brokered by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The White House has not yet officially confirmed the visit, but some sources indicate that the trip is being planned.
The problem, however, is that neither Thailand nor Cambodia appears ready to ease tensions. Fuelled by nationalism, the conflict revolves around online scam centres operating primarily in Cambodia (and Myanmar), with victims recruited from across Asia.
During the fighting, which broke out along the border, at least 48 people died and another 260,000 were displaced. As a result, several border crossings are still closed.
Despite the cessation of open hostilities, Thailand is still holding 18 Cambodian prisoners of war, captured on 29 July, maintaining that their imprisonment is legitimate under international law.
“The detention must continue until the ceasefire or cessation of hostilities is concrete and fully effective, to ensure that the detainees will not return to combat against Thailand. This follows established international norms,” said last August Royal Thai Army spokesman Maj Gen Winthai Suwaree.
According to Malaysian Minister Mohamad, at the ASEAN summit, Malaysia and the United States intend to promote an agreement to remove all mines and heavy artillery along the border. However, the hostilities revolve largely around online scam centres protected by the Cambodian government led by Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Yesterday, Thai security forces recovered 11 youths who had been deceived and held in the border province of Sa Kaeo by criminal gangs involved in human trafficking, who were reported missing by their parents.
These groups are often Chinese-led – last month, 16 members of one gang were sentenced to death in China.
Online scam centres[*] hold hundreds of people in slave-like conditions after luring them with phoney advertisements, forcing them to work in self-enclosed compounds surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards.
After the victims’ passports are taken, the "web slaves" are forced to defraud others, often using fake social media profiles. According to United Nations, this type of “business” was worth an estimated US$ 37 billion in 2023 in Southeast Asia alone.
Despite a harsh crackdown by China and Thailand in recent years, during which thousands of people have been rescued from various centres in Southeast Asia (in February alone, 7,000 people were freed), online scam centres continue to thrive in Cambodia where they constitute a large chunk of the country’s economy, and in Myanmar, where illegal trafficking continues to operate thanks to Starlink, the company owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
In Myawaddy, on the Myanmar side of the border with Thailand, new compounds are under construction, with the potential of employing up to 100,000 people.
Satellite images, verified by Agence France Presse, show that 80 Starlink dishes have been mounted on a single roof of one of the buildings in the largest centre.
SpaceX, the company that owns the satellites, received a warning from US prosecutors last year that the satellites were being used for fraudulent operations, but never responded to requests for comment.
Some analysts also claim that during the five-day war, Thailand attempted to destroy, targeting, the compounds located near the border.
In any case, the closure of scam centres in Cambodia is a precondition that Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was appointed after the dismissal of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has set for the signing of a permanent peace agreement.
“We are about to inform Donald Trump to send a letter to me expressing his desire to see both Thailand and Cambodia engage in negotiations to resolve the dispute,” Anutin said last week regarding a potential intervention by Trump in reducing tensions.
“In response, I will inform him that if Cambodia adheres to these four key conditions, Thailand is ready to follow the appropriate procedures. We stand firm on these four points because they are a threat to the country's security,” he added.
In addition to dismantling online scam centres, the four points Anutin cited include the removal of mines and heavy weapons from the border, and the withdrawal of Cambodian nationals from the Ban Nong Chan area.
Although their presence constitutes an illegal occupation, according to Bangkok, several Cambodian families have lived in the area for decades after they were displaced in 1979 by Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia, which was then ruled by the Khmer Rouge regime.
At the time, Cambodia encouraged their integration, transformed the border into a commercial hub that was worth US$ 5 billion last year.
According to several experts, Anutin is using the issue for domestic consumption. Close to conservative forces, the prime minister reiterated his desire to hold a national referendum to repeal Memoranda of Understanding 43 and 44, which regulate the border demarcation with Cambodia.
Although this is a technical issue that should be assessed by lawmakers, Anutin, who also serves as Interior Minister, is positioning himself as a defender of the national interest in an attempt to boost his chances ahead of upcoming elections and thus consolidate his power.
By contrast, the opposition, represented by the progressive People's Party, has not made much of an impact on the issue. Despite winning the last election (but prevented from forming a govern), it could find itself at a disadvantage at the polls this time.
[*] Also known as fraud parks, scam factories, scam compounds, scam hubs, scam parks, fraud centres, fraud compounds, or fraud hubs.
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16/07/2025 15:36
