Thai job seekers warned of organ-poaching gangs in Cambodia

BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): The 25-year-old woman, identified only as Bee, was among eight Thai nationals — seven women and one man — handed over by Cambodian immigration officials to Thai authorities at the Klong Luek border checkpoint in the Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province on Wednesday (March 9) evening.

Royal Thai Police assistant chief Pol Lt-General Surachate Hakparn, who was among the senior Thai officials receiving the eight returnees, said that scammer gangs in Cambodia have became “very cruel” now. They lure Thais to work for them to prey on other Thais, and also want to sell their organs after drawing blood from them till they die, he added.

The policeman warned against working illegally in Cambodia, adding that there are currently about 3,000 Thais doing so there, many of them for call centre gangs.

He said Cambodian authorities are carrying out a crackdown on such gangs and sending their Thai workers back to Thailand, as a result of a recent discussion between Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

The rescued woman, a Bangkok resident, told Surachate that she had been lured to work for a Chinese call-centre gang based in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville town. She refused to work after learning that she had to make calls to deceive her compatriots.

She was then assaulted and detained without food. The gang demanded a ransom for her release but she could not arrange the money.

Later, she managed to flee but lost consciousness during a bus ride. She regained consciousness in Sihanoukville where three bags of blood were drawn from her. After that, she was moved to different hotels and the last one was close to the Vietnamese border.

She gave a note asking for help to a Thai woman she met on the way who alerted the authorities. Bee said the rescue arrived as she was about to be taken for organ removal.