Cambodia border fight is also a war on scammers, says Thailand
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Thailand and Cambodia had also dismantled a scam centre with hundreds of trafficked foreign workers.
PHOTO: AFP
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BANGKOK – Thailand’s army has recast its deadly clash with Cambodia
Calling the strikes a “war against the scam army”, a military division involved in the border fight said this week that it is on the front line against the global threat of transnational crime syndicates, which operate across neighbouring Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Thailand’s new tone draws together two simmering crises in South-east Asia, the border war between neighbours that has killed dozens and displaced half a million people and a sprawling scam ecosystem that has swindled billions of dollars primarily in so-called pig-butchering and call-centre schemes
The framing also shows that Bangkok is seeking to align itself with both Washington and Beijing, which have pushed separately for South-east Asian nations to crack down on the scam operations.
In two statements this week, Thailand’s Second Army Area Command, in charge of fighting in four of seven border provinces, said some of the targets the Thai military has hit in Cambodia in December were scam compounds used by Cambodian troops.
It had earlier focused only on military targets.
Thailand has been “cutting logistical and operational lifelines” and “dismantling transnational criminal support structures”, the command said in a statement on Dec 17.
“The true adversary is the transnational criminal networks and power structures that sustain illegal interests through violence.”
In a separate statement on Dec 18, the command said Thai forces have neutralised at least six scam-related facilities – which it also refers to as casinos – including two sites that had been previously sanctioned by the US government.
US President Donald Trump has taken a keen interest in the border fight between the South-east Asian neighbours that erupted earlier in 2025 – threatening both with trade restrictions
Mr Trump said both leaders pledged to stop the fighting after he spoke with them last week
But the Thai statements this week imply the US administration has given Bangkok tacit approval to continue its strikes.
“This explains why many countries, despite calling for a ‘ceasefire’, have taken no concrete action against Thailand, including the US, which seemed to exercise a polite caution as a supporter of peace,” the army unit said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Thailand has deployed F-16 and Gripen fighter jets to bomb buildings and bridges used by Cambodia’s military since the border conflict flared up again on Dec 7.
Thailand has said those targets have included “deserted” casinos that housed drone command centres, weapon depots or troops and snipers.
On Dec 18, Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said Thailand used F-16s to drop two bombs in Poipet
It did not say if any casinos had been hit.
The Thai air force said it was targeting rocket depots.
Responding to a question whether Thailand is specifically aiming to take out Cambodian casinos, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Army Richa Suksuwanan said in a news briefing on Dec 18 that all targets have been verified as military targets.
“The attacks were not solely focused on casinos and scammers,” he said.
“Every target identified was clearly being used as a military base, frequently including drone command centres and weapons depots.”
Since the beginning of 2025, Thailand has ramped up its crackdowns on the scam networks operating out of its South-east Asian neighbours, which Chinese President Xi Jinping has publicly supported.
Separately on Dec 18, China dispatched an envoy to Cambodia and Thailand
The billion-dollar cyberscam operations have been expanding across the region for years and are often run by Chinese nationals who fled in 2020 following a domestic crackdown.
The criminals have trafficked hundreds of thousands of victims from as many as 56 origin countries to work in the scam compounds, according to a United Nations report.
In November, Thailand handed over a Chinese-born, naturalised Cambodian citizen, who is alleged to be a casino kingpin and wanted by Beijing.
In February, Thai authorities repatriated several Chinese nationals who had worked in fraud operations in Myanmar.
The Thai military’s actions to target Cambodian casinos came after a series of measures earlier in 2025 to hurt the illicit economy.
Thailand also halted exports of goods to Cambodia
The measures followed similar efforts when Thailand cut off electricity, internet access and fuel supplies to some areas in Myanmar suspected to house cyberscam operations.
Thailand and Cambodia had also jointly dismantled a scam centre that housed hundreds of trafficked foreign workers in Poipet.
The Thai army also said that during the visit of China’s Vice-Minister of Public Security Liu Zhongyi in Bangkok on Dec 17, Chinese authorities shared their view that the Cambodian government has “connections and shared interests” with some of the scam operations.
The government of Hun Manet in Phnom Penh has denied having such relationships. BLOOMBERG
