China's Xi and Thailand's leader vow to crack down on scam networks that plague Southeast Asia

BANGKOK (AP) — China's leader Xi Jinping and visiting Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra vowed to crack down on the scam networks that plague Southeast Asia as the two leaders met on Thursday in Beijing.

Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, which are south of China and share borders with Thailand, have became major centers of online scam operations where people lured by false advertising of well-paid jobs are trafficked to secretive compounds where they are forced to work by criminal groups that run online scams targeting people all over the world.

That has impacted Thailand’s reputation, as multiple high-profile stories of Chinese people being lured to work in Bangkok only to be trafficked into a scam compound in Myanmar have surfaced, with Chinese actor Wang Xing being the latest such victim.

Thai and Chinese officials have taken public steps to address the scam issue, including a reported visit to the border region by Liu Zhongyi, China’s vice minister of public security.

“China appreciates Thailand’s strong measures to combat online gambling fraud. Both sides should continue to strengthen law enforcement, security, and judicial cooperation," Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Paetongtarn echoed that, saying “Thailand is willing to strengthen law enforcement cooperation with China and other neighboring countries and take resolute and effective measures to combat cross-border crimes such as online gambling and fraud.”

Ahead of her visit, Thailand cut off electricity to some areas in Myanmar by its border to try to disrupt the operations of the scam compounds. The effect of that is unclear as the compounds often have their own generators.

The visit to China was Paetongtarn's first as prime minister and comes as the two countries celebrate 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations.

On other bilateral issues, Xi said China was willing to work on a new railway project between the countries. On Tuesday, Thailand approved a $10 billion railway project that will eventually connect Bangkok to the Laos-China high speed railway. He also said they hoped to deepen cooperation in electric vehicles, with Thailand being an emerging market for Chinese automakers.

China was once a significant part of Thailand’s tourism segment but was down to 6.7 million visitors in 2024, less than the 11 million visitors in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic when Chinese visitors were nearly a third of all arrivals.

Paetongtarn has shown Thailand is willing to accommodate Chinese interests on key issues.

In January, a group of Chinese Uyghur detainees in Thailand pleaded for help before they were deported to China. Thailand’s decision to deport the Uyghurs, a largely Muslim ethnic group that faces persecution, came ahead of the two countries 50th anniversary of relations.

After the meeting in beijing, Paetongtarn said that Thailand "firmly" abides by the one-China principle, Beijing's position that the island of Taiwan is part of China.

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Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this report.