Twelve Vietnamese nationals, who claimed to have escaped a scam network in Cambodia, have been arrested after they crossed the border illegally into Si Sa Ket province, the Royal Thai Army said on Tuesday.
The 10 men and two women were caught on Monday about 380 metres from the Chong Sangam checkpoint in Phu Sing district in the northeastern province. Fifteen mobile phones were also seized from them.
According to the army, the group said that they had seen online job advertisements on various social media pages in Vietnam, recruiting IT workers for jobs in Cambodia with a high salary of about 40 million dong per month, or around 50,000 baht.
After applying and being accepted, they said, they were picked up and taken to the neighbouring country. Upon arrival, their passports were confiscated and they were trained to work in a call-centre scam operation, including how to use communication tools, persuade victims and issue threats.
They were later relocated to work in a casino area near the Chong Chom-Chong Sangam permanent border crossing.
There they witnessed coworkers being physically abused. Fearing for their own safety, they decided to escape and were eventually arrested by the Thai Suranaree Force.
All 12 individuals were handed over to the Phu Sing police station for legal proceedings, the army said.