Four Chinese arrested with laptops and phones in suspected cross-border scam operation in Thailand

Four Chinese nationals were arrested with laptops and mobile phones in a suspected cross-border scam operation in Thailand.

Police were on patrol for illegal border activity when they found a suspicious vehicle carrying Chinese passengers into the Thai frontier town Nong Khai, on August 19.

Officers followed the grey Honda City car until it stopped at a red traffic light.

They then questioned four Chinese men inside and found that the group did not have valid travel or work documents.

Cops arrested the Thai driver Udom Saehan, 39, and four Chinese passengers Xiang Hao, 22, Yang Soon, 23, Zheng Hua, 32, and Li Chai, 26. They claimed they had crossed into Thailand from Laos through a natural border crossing.

Police also seized 13 laptops, 19 mobile phones and four internet routers believed to be used for transnational scam operations.

Udom said a man named Ton had hired him on Monday to pick up and transport four Chinese men from the Mekong River bordering Laos and Thailand for 24,000 baht.

He said the group were carrying a large number of bags.

One of the suspects, Xiang, said he had travelled to Laos from China around four to five months ago to work in construction, but was never paid..

He was then reportedly hired by another Chinese national to deliver bags containing laptops and mobile phones into Thailand for up to 10,000 yuan.

He claimed they had crossed the Mekong River on a boat before meeting with Udom.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Teeyachapath Rungsibhrumanakul of Nong Khai Immigration said: ‘We charged the Thai driver with assisting, concealing or aiding foreigners who had entered the country illegally to enable them to evade arrest.

‘We charged the four Chinese nationals with smuggling goods into the country without undergoing customs formalities and entering the country without permission.

‘They were handed over, along with the seized items, to the inquiry officer at Mueang Nong Khai Police Station for further legal action.

‘We will expand the investigation to identify their accomplices.'

Officials said investigations were ongoing to find other members of the network.

Thailand has become a notorious base for Chinese crime gangs operating fraud and human trafficking operations in neighbouring Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Many operate from heavily guarded compounds in remote border regions, generating billions through fraud schemes targeting victims worldwide.