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Asia-Pacific
Four Thai Citizens Receive Justice in Forced Scamming Case; Perpetrator Convicted and Sentenced to 30 Years
16 August, 2024, Thailand – In June 2024, four Thai citizens, including two minors, found justice in a harrowing case involving human trafficking into forced scamming. What began innocently as a job advertisement on Facebook for a “Commercial Administrator” position in the casino town of Poipet, Cambodia, offering attractive pay and benefits, turned out to be a trap set by the trafficker posing as a recruiter.
In September 2021, the Thai trafficker arranged the pick-up and transport of the four survivors—two of whom were under 18 years old—from a market in Thailand to a house near the Thai-Cambodian border before taking them by boat through a canal to the Cambodian side. Inside a 10-story building located in Poipet, a city on the Cambodian-Thai border, the four survivors were forced to conduct scams targeting unsuspecting victims in Thailand. When they discovered the true nature of their work, they wanted to refuse but were met with threats and violence. They were beaten for disobedience, confined in a room for 15 to 23 hours at a time, and faced threats of being sold to a worse company, or being told they had to pay a fee of 180,000 THB (nearly 5,000 USD) to leave. One day, the survivors bravely planned and managed their escape, then contacted a local non-government organization in a Thai province near the border.
On January 27, 2022, IJM Thailand received a request for assistance from a close law enforcement partner, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation. There was an ongoing investigation into the trafficking network after the four survivors’ escape from forced scamming in Cambodia, and IJM’s teams in Thailand and Cambodia were asked to help. IJM supported the survivors with legal assistance during the victim identification process and prosecution and became co-plaintiff representing the group of Thai survivors during the court proceedings in Thailand.
Since a crisis of forced scamming began to emerge in Southeast Asia, this case marked IJM Thailand’s first forced scamming case to go to trial and receive a verdict—and a significant one. The suspect was charged with conspiring in human trafficking, forced labor of minors under the age of 18, deception, involvement in organized crime, and subjecting victims to forced labor and physical abuse. Justice was obtained on June 26, 2024, when the perpetrator was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years and 8 months of imprisonment, along with fines amounting to 1,536,620 THB (approximately 42,007 USD).
The conviction is remarkable. Sentences exceeding 30 years are rarely seen in human trafficking cases in Thailand. This case and its verdict set a clear precedent that acknowledges the reality of victims being trafficked and forced to work in scamming compounds in the region. It also challenges misconceptions held by some government authorities in the region that most individuals working in scamming compounds are there voluntarily and complicit in the scamming crimes.
“This conviction is a significant victory for us, shedding light on the true peril of trafficked victims trapped in forced scamming and bringing clear accountability,” said Andrew Wasuwongse, IJM Thailand’s Country Director. “Without strong criminal accountability, correct victim identification and strong survivor support like in this case, those who take advantage of the vulnerable will not be deterred and this crime will continue to persist.”
With the support of IJM’s Survivor Services program, the survivors have begun anew, securing safe employment and embracing a hopeful future.
“I am satisfied with the judgement. I am confident that I have received justice and trust that in the future, justice will also be possible,” said one survivor, expressing hope that justice will be secured in other cases of forced scamming. Another survivor, a teenager, also expressed her relief and gratitude: “I am relieved that the defendant is in prison. I feel at ease about my safety and that the defendant will not be able to harm us again. I am happy we won the case, and the defendant is behind bars.”
IJM has helped to remove, care for or support victim identification for over 350 individuals whom we determined to be victims of forced scamming within Southeast Asia’s scam compounds. IJM offices in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia (through local partner Yayasan IJMI/IJMI Foundation) proactively coordinate with government agencies and diplomatic missions to help facilitate rescues and the repatriation of victims and ensure survivors are provided with legal and psychosocial support. IJM is committed to developing the capacity of local justice system actors to effectively identify victims as a key part of our mission to help governments protect people from violence.
