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On 24th May 2026, Senate President and Acting Head of State Hun Sen said Cambodia is also a victim of online scam centres. Without naming any country, he questioned how suspects linked to these operations entered Cambodia without passports, especially as Cambodia has no direct flights from many long-distance countries. He argued they could not have passed through Cambodia’s main airports without proper documents, and asked which country they had entered through before arriving in Cambodia.
However, 2 days later, The Nation published an article reporting that Thai police had responded to Hun Sen’s remarks. Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwphan, spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, said Cambodia must acknowledge international information pointing to scam-centre bases inside the country, rather than shifting responsibility to Thailand as a transit route.
“Cambodia must accept the facts from international information that the main operating bases are there,” he said.
Beyond this, the statement aim to put on makeup that Thailand remains safe for international tourists and businesses.
Cambodia Senate President perhaps be a sensitive part for Thailand. In 2025, an ISEAS study described Thailand as sitting “at the heart of this evolving landscape,” not only as a transit and logistical corridor, but also as a primary target and enabler of online scam networks.
Another important layer of the Thai statement is diplomatic pressure. Thailand said it had intelligence and coordinates of suspected scam sites and was ready to share them with Cambodia. This allows Bangkok to present itself as cooperative: “We are not only blaming Cambodia; we are offering evidence and support.”
But the deeper question remains: why did Thailand respond so quickly to a statement that did not directly name or blame Thailand?
The likely answer is that Thai police interpreted Hun Sen’s remarks as an indirect reference to Thailand’s role as a transit route. By asking how foreign suspects entered Cambodia, Mr. Hun Sen shifted attention from scam bases inside Cambodia to the routes through which people arrived. Given Thailand’s geography and its frequent mention in trafficking and scam-centre reports, Bangkok may have felt that the statement indirectly pointed in its direction.
According to CSIS, Thailand has served as a major transit hub for human trafficking victims recruited to scam centres. Victims are often lured from different countries through fake job offers, flown to Thailand, and then smuggled across borders into scam compounds, often in Cambodia or Myanmar.
Thailand’s reassurance to tourists is notable given recent trafficking cases linked to the country. In 2026, a Chinese student who travelled to Thailand for Songkran was reportedly trafficked to Myanmar by a scam syndicate. In 2025, Chinese actor Wang Xing was also allegedly lured to Thailand for a fake film event before being taken through Mae Sot into a scam compound in Myanmar. His case went viral in China and raised fears about travel safety in Thailand.
The key point is this: Mr. Hun Sen did not directly accuse Thailand, but his remarks opened a question about transit routes. However, Thailand officially responded immediately as a law-enforcement message and a reputation-management move.