Thai Navy detains 14 Chinese men near Cambodia border

Thai naval officers have detained 14 Chinese nationals who allegedly crossed illegally into Thailand from Cambodia through a natural border passage in Chanthaburi, after intelligence suggested some may have fled a Cambodian crackdown on transnational crime networks.

Rear Admiral Parach Rattanachaiyaphan, spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy, said on May 7, 2026, that the operation was carried out in the early hours of the same day by the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defence Command, through the Chanthaburi Marine Task Force and the 543rd Marine Ranger Company.

Patrol launched after Cambodian inspection

Parach said naval patrol units were deployed at around 4.30am to monitor natural border routes considered vulnerable to illegal crossings and other unlawful activities.

The operation followed intelligence that Cambodian authorities had inspected a Chinese network near Phsar Prum market in Stung Kach commune, Sala Krau district, Pailin province. The area was described as one where transnational criminal groups had been active.

The inspection reportedly prompted a number of Chinese nationals to flee and attempt to enter Thailand illegally through natural border channels.

Suspects found near agricultural road

At around 5am, officers spotted suspicious individuals on a road in an agricultural area along the Thai-Cambodian border at Ban Marum, Moo 6, Khlong Yai subdistrict, Pong Nam Ron district, Chanthaburi.

The officers identified themselves, carried out an inspection and detained 14 Chinese nationals, all of them men. Most were found without travel documents.

Possible links to online gambling and cyber scams

Initial questioning found that some of the detainees may be connected to online gambling networks and cyber-scam operations on the Cambodian side of the border.

All of them told officers they had fled checks by Cambodian authorities before crossing into Thailand through a natural passage near Khlong Pong Nam Ron.

The detainees were charged with being foreign nationals who entered and stayed in the kingdom without permission. They were then handed over to investigators at Pong Nam Ron Police Station and Chanthaburi immigration officers for legal proceedings.

Navy tightens border surveillance

The Navy said all stages of the operation were carried out in strict compliance with the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, with respect for the human rights and dignity of the detainees.

Parach said the incident showed that some areas along the Cambodian border remained active routes for transnational criminal networks and so-called “grey Chinese” groups, which use border zones as hideouts and escape routes to avoid arrest.

He said the Royal Thai Navy had stepped up patrols, surveillance and intelligence coordination with relevant agencies to prevent Thailand from being used as an escape route or support base for illegal cross-border activities.