Thai JIC chief urges Hun Manet to uphold anti-scam pact on September 23
Prapas Sornchaidee calls for evidence exchanges with Cambodia and measurable anti-scam results, separate from the border dispute.
- ACM Prapas Sornchaidee, chief of Thailand's Joint Information Center (JIC), publicly called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to implement a previously signed joint agreement to combat transnational crime, particularly online scams.
- The Thai official stressed that the focus should be on dismantling criminal networks through cooperation, rather than on political accusations or linking the scam issue to separate border security disputes.
- Prapas called for verifiable and mutual cooperation, stating Thailand expects Cambodia to act on intelligence about scam networks operating from its territory, just as Thailand would.
- He proposed that commitment to the pact be measured by tangible results, such as the number of criminal networks dismantled and victims rescued, rather than by political statements.
ACM Prapas Sornchaidee, director of Thailand’s Joint Information Center on the Thailand-Cambodia Situation (JIC), called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) to implement their countries’ anti-scam commitments. ACM Prapas said an international forum against online crime should focus on cooperation rather than accusations against neighbouring countries.
Hun Manet had said efforts to combat scams should not be used as a tool to attack other countries or as a pretext for military force and the occupation of another country’s territory.
ACM Prapas said Thailand agreed that online crime should not become an instrument of international politics, but that principle must apply equally to all parties. Forums against scams should concentrate on dismantling criminal networks, he said, rather than making accusations or implying connections to other countries.
ACM Prapas calls for implementation of joint anti-crime commitments
ACM Prapas pointed to Clause 10 of the joint statement signed by Thailand and Cambodia on December 27, 2025. The provision commits both countries to following their cooperation plan against transnational crime, including online scams and human trafficking, and strengthening collaboration to prevent online fraud and misuse of digital platforms.
ACM Prapas said the central question should no longer be who was using the scam issue to attack whom, but: “How much progress has been made on what we signed together?”
Thailand was ready to cooperate if Cambodia submitted information on suspects, bank accounts, criminal networks, locations or financial trails through the agreed mechanisms, ACM Prapas said. Thai authorities would examine the information and take action under the law.
ACM Prapas said Thailand expected equally serious and verifiable cooperation if it supplied Cambodia with information about scam networks operating from Cambodian territory.
ACM Prapas separates crime cooperation from border security
ACM Prapas said combating transnational crime required cooperation through legal, police, financial and intelligence channels, alongside international mechanisms. Border security incidents, he argued, were a separate issue.
ACM Prapas said Thailand’s formal position before the United Nations (UN) was that Cambodian forces had opened fire on Thai troops and territory, prompting Thailand to exercise its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter. He said Thailand maintained that its response met the principles of necessity and proportionality, while Cambodia offered a different account.
ACM Prapas said the competing accounts should be assessed against facts, the sequence of events and evidence, rather than either side’s political statements.
“We should not mix the scam issue with security disputes and then conclude that combating online crime is a pretext for using force,” ACM Prapas said.
ACM Prapas urges verifiable results without blaming entire countries
ACM Prapas said Thailand was not labelling Cambodia a country of scammers and cautioned against generalising about any nation or its people. The international community wanted verifiable results rather than competing accusations, he said.
ACM Prapas said online criminal networks had operated across the region for years. He also said Cambodia had acknowledged at the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS) on September 23 that transnational criminal networks were using Cambodian territory.
ACM Prapas proposed assessing commitment to tackling scams through:
- The number of criminal networks broken up through arrests
- The number of victims rescued
- The value of assets seized and frozen
- Whether criminal financial flows had been disrupted
- Whether influential figures or financial backers behind the networks had been prosecuted
- The extent of genuine information exchanges with neighbouring countries
ACM Prapas said his message to Hun Manet was to revisit the agreement and implement its commitments. Thailand was not asking Cambodia to claim it had no scam problem, he said, and Thailand should not suggest that the entire problem lay with Cambodia.
ACM Prapas described scams as a crime that transcended nationality and borders, with victims worldwide. Countries that recognised the problem as transnational should work together against criminals, he said, rather than turn anti-crime conferences into platforms for accusing neighbours.
“Allegations are not evidence, statements do not represent all the facts, and a forum for fighting crime should not be turned into a platform for political justification. Thailand is ready to cooperate, but cooperation must begin with implementing what both countries have signed together,” ACM Prapas said.
