11 Thai youths rescued before being smuggled to call-centre gang in Cambodia

Thai troops rescued 11 youths from a house near the border in Sa Kaeo province on Monday evening before they could be smuggled to Cambodia to work for a call-centre gang.

The rescue operation, led by the Aranyaprathet Taskforce, was carried out at around 6.30pm after the eastern branch of the Immanuel Foundation Thailand alerted the unit that several parents had filed complaints, reporting their teenage sons had been deceived and detained by a gang.

Col Chainarong Kasi, commander of the taskforce, said the foundation had informed him that one teenager had contacted his parents to say he was being held at a house in Moo 3 village, Tambon Fak Huay, Aranyaprathet district, since Monday morning.

Chainarong said the boy had been promised an online job with a monthly salary of at least 20,000 baht and full welfare benefits. Ten other victims were reportedly lured with similar promises.

They were told to travel to Sa Kaeo, where they were provided temporary accommodation near the Aranyaprathet bus terminal before being taken to a house near the border. There, they were detained and not allowed to leave.

The teenage boy managed to call his family, informing them that ten other Thais were also being held at the same location.

After learning the precise location, Chainarong dispatched his team to investigate and found 11 Thai youths, including the boy whose family had raised the alarm. The taskforce then alerted Aranyaprathet police and the district chief to inspect the scene.

The 11 rescued youths were taken to Aranyaprathet Police Station for questioning.

At 12.30am on Tuesday, Pol Col Chuchart Kongmuang, commander of Aranyaprathet Police Station, transferred the group to the foundation’s Centre for Aiding Thai Expats for temporary care pending further interrogation.

They were later brought back to the police station at 9am for additional questioning. Police determined that all of them were under 20 years old and came from several provinces: two each from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, and one each from Ratchaburi, Surin, Saraburi, Ayutthaya, Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Ratchasima and Nakhon Phanom.