The Bangkok Post on March 3 quoted Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin as saying that the country's authorities had just helped expedite the repatriation of 900 Chinese citizens stuck in fraud crime centers in Myanmar.

Thai police said the operation, which took place from February 22 to 24, involved taking Chinese nationals from the border town of Myawaddy in Myanmar to an airport in the border district of Mae Sot in Thailand, where they were transferred to Chinese planes.

"This is a joint voluntary campaign between China, Myanmar and Thailand. This process is carried out voluntarily, based on humanitarian principles, without coercion," according to Prime Minister Srettha.

Thai Deputy Police Chief Surachae Hakparn said the operation included 15 flights over three days to bring back Chinese victims of fraud.

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. A Myanmar military spokesman did not answer a call for comment on the incident.

Many Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, regularly deal with telecommunications and online fraud, with hundreds of thousands of people being duped by criminals and forced to work in scam centers and other illegal activities.

In November 2023, Myanmar authorities handed over 31,000 telecom fraud suspects to China in a joint crackdown against online fraud in Myanmar.

China and Myanmar also helped facilitate the repatriation of more than 200 Thais, including victims and people linked to telecom scam gangs, who were caught in fighting between the Myanmar military and armed ethnic minority groups in the Laukkaing area of ​​northern Myanmar's Shan State.

BANGKOK POST SCREENSHOT