Thai police arrest 'ringleader and accomplices who tortured Cambodian romance scam workers'
Thai police arrested the alleged ringleader and accomplices of a Chinese-run romance scam gang accused of trafficking and torturing workers in Cambodia.
The network allegedly lured Thai jobseekers with promises of high-paying jobs before forcing them to operate romance scams in a fraud hub in Cambodia's Tboung Khmum province.
The group allegedly used social media to promote ‘legitimate administrative jobs' with high salaries, accommodation, meals and regular days off.
New recruits were then flown in from Bangkok before being detained in a heavily guarded Cambodian compound secured by high walls, barbed wire, and guards.
Alleged victims told investigators they were ordered to create fake social media profiles and seduce targets to invest money through bogus websites posing as legitimate international platforms.
Those who failed to meet quotas were allegedly beaten, shocked with electric batons, whipped with electrical cables and locked up. Some victims claimed they were sold between scam gangs before relatives paid ransoms to secure their release.
Police said on May 29 that a probe was launched in late 2025 after receiving information from Meta that led them to an alleged transnational scam network involving Thai nationals.
They stormed the scam hub in a joint crackdown by Thailand's Anti Online Scam Operation Center (AOC 1441), the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division.
Officers arrested five suspects, including alleged ringleader Kittikorn, 29, also known as ‘Head Rose', along with Thanaphon, 35, Methanee, 40, Surapong, 30, and Nonglek, 34.
Kittikorn allegedly punished those who failed to meet targets by electrocuting them with electric batons, beating them with taped electrical cables and ordering their confinement.
Thanaphon allegedly worked as an interpreter between Chinese bosses and Thai employees and also participated in the abuse.
Methanee allegedly recruited workers through social media and coordinated their travel to Cambodia.
Surapong allegedly handled transportation and procured fake social media accounts, while Nonglek was accused of managing transfers and the network's financial operations.
Authorities estimate the network generated between 156,000 and 267,00 GBP per month.
The five suspects have been charged with offences including involvement in a transnational criminal organisation, human trafficking, coercion and unlawful detention.
Police said investigations are underway to identify other members of the network and trace its financial assets.
Cambodia has spawned thousands of scam hubs for online fraud in recent years.
Government top brass are widely believed to have been complicit in the system, receiving vast sums in order to protect the criminals running the operations.
The United Nations found that billions of dollars have been generated from the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of people forced to work in these compounds, usually headed by Chinese syndicates.
Thai military chiefs lost their patience with Cambodian aggression along the border last year, following rocket attacks on civilians and began systematically striking the buildings with F-16 fighter jets.
Referring to the scam centres, Jacob Sims, Visiting Fellow, Asia Center, Harvard University, previously said: ‘It is impossible to imagine that such vast wealth would be moving through the system without the explicit knowledge and participation of its strongman and his immediate circle.'
The US State Department's Trafficking in Persons report criticised the ‘official complicity' in the networks, while Amnesty International said the ‘Cambodian authorities have deliberately ignored a litany of human rights abuses including slavery, human trafficking, child labour and torture'.
