PUBLISHED : 9 Nov 2025 at 14:49
SIM cards seized in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Sunday. (Photo: Radio Thailand)
SA KAEO – Thai border rangers arrested three foreign nationals — a Chinese man, an American and an Indian — after they illegally crossed from Cambodia into Thailand before dawn on Sunday, seizing more than 1,000 mobile SIM cards believed to be connected to an international call-centre scam network.
A joint patrol team from the Aranyaprathet Special Task Force and the 1204th Ranger Company intercepted the group at a natural border crossing behind Non Khilek village in tambon Phan Suek of Aranyaprathet district. The patrol began at around 1.15am to prevent illegal border crossing and smuggling.
The three men were found walking across the border from Poipet, Cambodia, …
PUBLISHED : 9 Nov 2025 at 14:49
SIM cards seized in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Sunday. (Photo: Radio Thailand)
SA KAEO – Thai border rangers arrested three foreign nationals — a Chinese man, an American and an Indian — after they illegally crossed from Cambodia into Thailand before dawn on Sunday, seizing more than 1,000 mobile SIM cards believed to be connected to an international call-centre scam network.
A joint patrol team from the Aranyaprathet Special Task Force and the 1204th Ranger Company intercepted the group at a natural border crossing behind Non Khilek village in tambon Phan Suek of Aranyaprathet district. The patrol began at around 1.15am to prevent illegal border crossing and smuggling.
The three men were found walking across the border from Poipet, Cambodia, without any travel documents. Officers detained them and brought them in for questioning at the ranger base.
A search of the Chinese suspect’s luggage uncovered 1,000 SIM cards hidden among his belongings. He reportedly confessed to smuggling the SIMs from Poipet, saying he intended to deliver them to a Chinese “boss” based in Myawaddy, Myanmar, a town known as a hub for scam operations.
Col Chainarong Kasi, commander of the Aranyaprathet Special Task Force, said officials believed the Chinese national was part of a transnational cybercrime network that uses Thailand as a transit route for moving communication tools used in scam operations, including fake call centres.
The American suspect claimed he was travelling to Bangkok to contact the US Embassy about his pension payments, while the Indian man told officers he was en route to buy goods in Bangkok before returning home. Both admitted to paying smugglers to help them cross illegally, though they were not accompanied by a guide when caught.
The three men were handed over to Khlong Nam Sai police station along with the seized SIM cards for legal proceedings on charges of illegal entry into the kingdom. Investigators will trace the wider call-centre syndicate suspected of operating out of Myanmar and using cross-border routes through Cambodia and Thailand.