Thailand: Myanmar Scam Center Plans to Transfer Base to Laos

Recently, Thai federal investigators seized over 6,000 electronic devices hidden along the Mekong River. It is believed that these devices belong to a call center syndicate (scam group) planning to relocate their base from Myanmar to Laos.

On April 12, 2024, the Thai Public Broadcasting Service reported that the Central Investigation Police and Customs Department found over 6,000 electronic devices along the Mekong River bank under trees (near the border of Chiang Rai Province's Chiang Saen District in the Golden Triangle), valued at approximately 5.4 million Thai baht, excluding taxes and duties.

Commander Jiraphop Phuridej of the Central Investigation Police revealed that the authorities confiscated over 6,000 items. These were devices that the call center syndicate had transferred from elsewhere, preparing to carry out transnational crimes in casinos in Laos, coming from Myanmar.

According to the Central Investigation Police's Facebook page, the seized items include: 4,998 mobile phone SIM cards, 10 high-speed internet receivers from SpaceX's Starlink satellites, 94 sets of All In One computers and equipment, 347 mobile phones, 15 Chinese laptops, and Thai bank account books with 5 sets of mobile phones and SIM cards.

Preliminary examinations found that the original mobile phone SIM cards seized were sent from the UK, delivered to Thai residents in Chiang Rai Province, and forwarded to Chinese residents in Laos. As for the information inside the confiscated phones, it was discovered that they mainly contained chat records used by the call center syndicate to deceive victims into making transfers, with most of the conversations in Chinese and Thai.