THAILAND – A 25-year-old Thai man told officials he had been bought and sold, repeatedly beaten and subjected to electric shocks while being forced to carry out online scams in Cambodia before fleeing back across the border on October 23.
Escape after seven months of captivity
The man, identified only by the alias “Nai Ton,” arrived at a coordination centre for Thais in the eastern region after escaping a network that he said had held him for seven months. He told authorities he had been recruited with the promise of an admin job for an online gambling site in Poipet but was instead forced to sell counterfeit products and run fraud operations.
“I was sold several times,” he told officials, describing movements from Phnom Penh to Bavet on the Vietnamese border. He said his worst day came when he failed to meet targets and was beaten and electrocuted as punishment.
“I was forced to persuade victims to buy goods. If I didn’t make sales or follow orders, I was tortured and hit. I was beaten by several people and abused with electric shocks,” he said.
How the scam networks operated
According to the account, the syndicates used paid social media advertising to lure victims into open chat groups where recruits were directed to defraud buyers. Nai Ton said the highest amount obtained from a single victim amounted to 60,000 baht, roughly 1,500 euros.
The patterns he described are consistent with broader reports of cross-border scam operations centred around Cambodian towns such as Poipet and Bavet, where criminal groups have exploited lax law enforcement and porous borders to run telephone- and internet-based frauds targeting victims across the region.
External pressure led to releases
Nai Ton credited pressure from South Korean authorities with creating an opportunity to flee. Seoul had threatened to “clean out” the scam gangs to protect its citizens, he said, prompting some leaders to release or abandon those who were not meeting targets.
“The gang leader began to let people go who did not want to work or could not reach their targets,” he said. “Only those who chose to stay by their own will remained.”
Thanrak Chulcharoen, known as Bird, the coordinator for Thais living abroad in the eastern region, confirmed large-scale raids had been under way in Poipet and Phnom Penh. “The scam syndicates are being hit hard,” he said, adding that Thai nationals found in operations had been detained.
Gangs shift to avoid raids
Thanrak said the criminal groups reacted to enforcement actions by relocating frequently. “They move their bases like swarms of bees,” he said, suggesting the shifts were often temporary and the networks remained active inside Cambodia.
Despite recent raids and releases, the problem persisted. Authorities and aid coordinators say hundreds of victims may still be trapped in scam compounds across Cambodia, and some 40 so-called “mule account” holders remain in the same border region, complicating rescue efforts.
Rescue efforts complicated by jurisdiction
Officials warned that operations to recover victims were made more difficult by the fact that many compounds lie on Cambodian soil, limiting the ability of Thai authorities to conduct direct interventions. Cross-border cooperation and diplomatic pressure have become central to dismantling the networks and repatriating victims safely.
The account of Nai Ton highlighted the human cost of organised online fraud: physical abuse, coercion and long periods of captivity. It also underscored the role of international pressure in forcing some changes in the gangs’ behaviour, but not eradicating the underlying networks.
Debate over how to treat victims
The case has revived debate in Thailand about how to handle citizens who are found to have taken part in scam operations, whether voluntarily or under coercion. Questions remain over whether victims of trafficking should face prosecution for crimes committed under duress or be treated as victims eligible for protection and support.
As Nai Ton began rebuilding his life after escape, authorities urged the public to remain vigilant about recruitment offers on social media and called for stronger international coordination to dismantle the transnational networks that traffic, exploit and abuse vulnerable workers.