Thailand briefs ASEAN team on O’Smach scam claims and border tensions

The Joint Information Centre on the Thailand-Cambodia Situation (JIC) brought the ASEAN Observer Team (AOT) and Thai and foreign media to the border area near the Chong Chom permanent border crossing in Kap Choeng district, Surin province, to inspect what Thai officials described as a scam compound in O'Smach, Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia, on Monday (September 7, 2026).

ACM Prapas Sornchaidee, assistant commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Air Force and director of the JIC, said the visit was conducted on behalf of the government and the Ministry of Defence to present Thailand’s account of events.

He rejected a Cambodian leader’s claim that Thailand was using the scam issue as a pretext to occupy Cambodian territory, saying the Cambodian side had used the area as a base for drones, weapons and command centres involved in attacks on Thai troops.

In his view, this made it necessary for Thailand to take control of the area.

Prapas described scam operations as an unacceptable global threat requiring countries to work together rather than merely meet and agree on steps.

He called for a dedicated task force to investigate such operations, with cooperation from the host country, and said several agencies had gathered information to support asset seizures, disrupt financial channels and prevent investment in the operations.

Prapas cited what he said were scam operations and casinos described as entertainment complexes along the border in Poipet, Pailin and Thma Da.

He claimed that even international organisations had used the label “Scambodia”.

He said Thailand had not previously known of scam activity at this site and added that further talks could take place through bilateral channels once conditions were conducive.

Prapas said the site covered more than 80 hectares and contained several hundred buildings.

He questioned how Cambodian authorities could have been unaware of the activities and said those operating there were probably investors from elsewhere.

He described the situation as a national-level matter involving economic interests and said the activities had a major impact on Thailand and countries worldwide.

Prapas said the AOT delegation had been taken to the area under Thai control to observe where clashes had occurred, stressing that its role was limited to observation and that the visit was not intended to demarcate the border.

Maratee Nalita Andamo, deputy director-general of the Department of Information and deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the latest visit was important and useful because additional details obtained during an earlier visit could be presented specifically to foreign media and conveyed to the international community.

She said the ministry had been addressing the issue since 2025, including by organising a meeting involving the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in December 2025 and holding discussions with other parties, including the European Union, while the issue had also featured at several international meetings.

Maratee said information from the visit on scam groups’ operations reflected what she described as a failure by state authorities to take responsibility for law enforcement in the area.

She said the ministry was prioritising the issue in September and that Thailand’s Permanent Mission in Geneva would hold a side event to exchange views on state responsibility for tackling online scams.

She stressed that the ceasefire did not guarantee security along the border.

Landmines still had to be cleared, and action against online scams had to be pursued under the joint statement, several provisions of which had yet to be put into practice.

Regarding Cambodia’s plan to raise the Thai-Cambodian border situation at a forum in France, Maratee said the Thai ambassador to France had already denied that Thailand had lobbied, pressured or sought to persuade third countries that were members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), or French-speaking countries, not to raise the issue at the forum.

She said the Thai and Cambodian leaders had discussed the matter when they met at an ASEAN meeting in the Philippines.

She added that the joint statement called for an end to provocations, including remarks at international forums where the Thai-Cambodian border issue was neither the purpose nor part of the agenda.

Thailand was not an OIF member but held observer status and would monitor proceedings, she said.

Maratee said Thailand would respond immediately at any forum where it was a member and able to do so.

If it could not, it would issue a public clarification setting out what it regarded as the facts.