On October 30, 2025, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pinkaew Luangaramsri of Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Social Sciences gave an interview to Transborder News about the regional crackdown on transnational scam and crime networks. Thailand has recently proposed to host a joint meeting with China, Japan, and South Korea on cybercrime suppression, while Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul appointed several subcommittees to handle different aspects of the issue. Dr. Pinkaew said she was not sure what plans these committees had but questioned whether Thailand’s approach was truly comprehensive. “Thailand is trying to frame this as an ASEAN-level issue, with MoUs and symbolic actions, but there is still no full strategy to eliminate the networks,” she said. “The police mainly target mule accounts — the lowest level — while the top-tier operators and money-laundering systems remain untouched. This is a massive criminal industry tied to human trafficking, data theft, and financial crime, yet enforcement focuses only at the surface.”
Dr. Pinkaew pointed to the recent explosions at KK Park, a major scam and call center hub across the Moei River from Mae Sot, as proof that the Myanmar military has complete control over the area, contrary to its earlier claims that it was under ethnic armed group control. “The junta has long said it cannot control the border because it’s ethnic territory, but the repeated bombings show that was a lie,” she said. “If they truly wanted to stop the scam operations, they could. Blowing up a few buildings changes nothing — KK Park is worth billions, and they can rebuild easily. It’s just a show.” She explained that the bombings were a calculated tactic to shift the burden of humanitarian response onto Thailand. “They learned from the past. The last time, they released victims and scammers but had to feed them all themselves. This time, they bombed the area so people would flee — leaving Thailand to handle the costs and chaos.”
Dr. Pinkaew said Thailand and ASEAN must move beyond symbolic statements and work with international partners to pressure the Myanmar and Cambodian governments to cancel land lease contracts that allow Chinese investors to run illegal operations. She also urged Thailand to blacklist and publicly identify the Chinese financiers behind these scam centers as transnational criminals. “If we can’t do that, we’ll keep chasing mule accounts forever,” she said. “Thailand still hasn’t declared figures like Mong Chit Tu, the BGF leader, as criminals, even though he has cross-border business here.”
She emphasized that the root problem lies not in the buildings but in the land leases that legalize these criminal operations. For example, Shwe Kokko has a 70-year lease, extendable to 99 years, making it nearly impossible to revoke. Pinkaew also criticized the Karen National Union (KNU) for denying any link to KK Park, calling on the group to clarify who controls the leased land and who benefits. “The KNU can’t just deny responsibility. It’s impossible for Chinese operators to be there without a legal lease. Even if BGF officers manage the site, the contract is under the KNU, and they cannot escape accountability.”
She argued that Thailand, as ASEAN’s coordinating nation, must lead the push to make the junta cancel all Chinese land leases along the border and to have ASEAN collectively designate key investors as criminals. “Only about 2,000 people fled KK Park, while tens of thousands remain inside — around 80 compounds, each owned by dozens of Chinese investors. Unless these leases are revoked and their owners named as criminals, nothing will change,” she said.
Pinkaew compared Thailand’s weak border screening with South Korea’s strict model, noting that South Korea has managed to block its citizens from entering Cambodia for scam-related work. “How do people from Uganda or Kenya end up in Mae Sot? Either our screening is weak, or our officials are complicit. Chinese syndicates move freely across the Moei River, reportedly paying tens of thousands of baht per person to cross.”
When asked whether senior Thai figures benefit from the scam industry, Pinkaew answered candidly that while the government has set up committees, it lacks a real plan. “To be frank, I have no hope in this interim government. These moves are mostly symbolic, under pressure from the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S. blacklists the main perpetrators, but Thailand hasn’t named a single one, even though the information exists. Everyone knows Thailand has become a money-laundering hub, but our leaders won’t identify those responsible.” When asked if illicit funds might flow into the next election, she said it was difficult to confirm but possible. “Some politicians rely on this money to maintain their networks. Cutting it off would threaten their interests.”
Pinkaew also criticized the government’s “Three Cut” policy — cutting electricity, internet, and fuel — as outdated and ineffective. “KK Park has long used generators and doesn’t depend on Thai electricity. The ‘Three Cuts’ make operations inconvenient but not impossible. These are advanced criminal enterprises, and our policies are still a step behind.”
In conclusion, Dr. Pinkaew called for Thailand and ASEAN to lead coordinated regional action targeting Chinese investors, land lease contracts, and complicit officials — rather than arresting low-level operators — to dismantle the deep-rooted transnational scam networks operating along the Thai-Myanmar border.
This is a translation from original Thai article https://transbordernews.in.th/home/?p=44322
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