BANGKOK – Thailand is considering building a wall on part of its border with Cambodia to tackle illegal crossings, particularly by gangsters involved in online scam centers and drug smugglers, a government spokesman said on Monday.
There was no immediate comment from Cambodia on the proposal but the neighbors have a long-standing and bitter dispute over part of their 817 kilometer (507 miles) land border, and another dispute over their maritime border that has stymied the exploitation of offshore gas reserves.
“The prime minister directed the cabinet and relevant agencies to further study the idea of erecting a wall between Thailand and Cambodia to prevent illegal crossings and travels of call-center gangsters as well as the drugs and contraband trades,” Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsab told reporters.
Thailand, at China’s urging, has been cracking down on call centers over its border in eastern Myanmar, which researchers say are responsible for extensive financial fraud around the world and for trafficking in people to work in the centers.
Cambodia is also home to call-center operations, including in its western border town of Poipet and the southern seaside town of Sihanoukville.
Jirayu mentioned the possibility of putting up a wall in the area opposite Poipet.
He said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra floated the idea of a wall amid reports that scammers from Myanmar were migrating to Poipet, and Thailand planned to discuss the idea with Cambodian authorities.
“The foreign ministry and the defense ministry shall coordinate with other relevant agencies and talk with Cambodia on how to make it, if we would, and what the result will be – will it solve problems?”
Chinese pressure on its Southeast Asian neighbors to tackle the scam centers has also led to Cambodian action.
Over the weekend, Cambodia repatriated 119 Thai nationals following raids in Poi Pet.
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Hun Sen, Cambodia’s powerful former prime minister, complained that Cambodia was not getting the credit it deserved for its action against the scam centers.
“Countries on the border with Thailand, including Cambodia, have also tried to suppress the same thing,” Hun Sen said in a post on Facebook on Saturday.
“Sadly, Thailand’s success is considered by some journalists and politicians as a failure of neighboring Cambodia,” he said.
“The crime story is not over, it continues to be scandalous, which requires intergovernmental cooperation to be done effectively.”
Edited by Mike Firn