Thai Authorities Cut Illegal Internet Cable Running Into Laos – The Diplomat

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission claims that the illegal connection was used by Laos-based scamming gangs to target Thai nationals.

The Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, which connects Thailand’s Mukdahan province from Savannakhet, Laos.

Earlier this week, Thai authorities discovered and severed illegal internet cables running across a bridge linking Thailand with Laos, which they claim were being utilized by an online scamming operation.

According to a Bangkok Post report, the cables ran from Thailand’s Mukdahan province across the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, and deep into Laos’s Savannakhet province. Thai police say that the internet service was likely used by online scamming operations in Laos to deceive Thai victims into believing they were dealing with callers and businesses based in Thailand.

Pol. Gen. Nathathorn Prousoontorn, the head of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), told reporters on October 20 that his agency used “specialized equipment to examine the cables and found that they carried internet services about five kilometers deep into Lao soil. The internet service reached a big business district. It could cater to about 10,000 users at a time.”

This high-speed internet access “enabled call scam gangs to conveniently deceive Thai people, as if they had their base in Thailand. This network was installed blatantly without any fear of legal action,” he said.

The NBTC also released a video showing police and other officials using bolt-cutters to sever a thin black cable laid under the pavement along the edge of the Japanese-funded bridge, which opened to the public in 2007.

Nathathorn said that the cables were installed by a company the NBTC had licensed to provide telecommunications services only in Thailand, though he did not name the firm. An official from the NBTC confirmed on Tuesday that the Thai authorities have been in contact with Lao police and were expecting arrests to be made in the near future.

The discovery testifies to the sophistication of the online scamming gangs that have become a scourge in the Mekong region over the past five years, and their ability to subvert and infiltrate both the public and private sectors. These operations, often shielded by local authorities, rely overwhelmingly on trafficked labor to carry out a range of digital scams, including “pig butchering” romance scams and fraudulent crypto investment schemes.

In many cases, the workers are innocent jobseekers attracted by promises of legitimate employment, only to be kept as virtual prisoners and forced to operate scams, often on pain of beatings, mistreatment, and torture.

Laos has hosted some major online scamming factories. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), located in Bokeo province in the area where Laos’s border converges with those of Myanmar and Thailand, has become notorious for a range of illicit and criminal activities, including online fraud operations. The Lao government recently announced a crackdown on fraud operations inside the GTSEZ, which involved a number of arrests.

If past precedent is any indication, these operations have likely shifted elsewhere. In its coverage of the discovery of the internet cables, a resident of Savannakhet province, which lies across from Mukdahan, told Radio Free Asia that the cables may have been installed following the crackdown inside the GTSEZ.

“Members of call centers or online scamming gangs are everywhere in Laos,” the resident told Radio Free Asia. “They have now fled to other provinces, including Savannakhet.”

Understand the Asia-Pacific's biggest issues with a The Diplomat subscription.

Already have an account? Log in.

Earlier this week, Thai authorities discovered and severed illegal internet cables running across a bridge linking Thailand with Laos, which they claim were being utilized by an online scamming operation.

According to a Bangkok Post report, the cables ran from Thailand’s Mukdahan province across the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, and deep into Laos’s Savannakhet province. Thai police say that the internet service was likely used by online scamming operations in Laos to deceive Thai victims into believing they were dealing with callers and businesses based in Thailand.

Pol. Gen. Nathathorn Prousoontorn, the head of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), told reporters on October 20 that his agency used “specialized equipment to examine the cables and found that they carried internet services about five kilometers deep into Lao soil. The internet service reached a big business district. It could cater to about 10,000 users at a time.”

This high-speed internet access “enabled call scam gangs to conveniently deceive Thai people, as if they had their base in Thailand. This network was installed blatantly without any fear of legal action,” he said.

The NBTC also released a video showing police and other officials using bolt-cutters to sever a thin black cable laid under the pavement along the edge of the Japanese-funded bridge, which opened to the public in 2007.

Nathathorn said that the cables were installed by a company the NBTC had licensed to provide telecommunications services only in Thailand, though he did not name the firm. An official from the NBTC confirmed on Tuesday that the Thai authorities have been in contact with Lao police and were expecting arrests to be made in the near future.

The discovery testifies to the sophistication of the online scamming gangs that have become a scourge in the Mekong region over the past five years, and their ability to subvert and infiltrate both the public and private sectors. These operations, often shielded by local authorities, rely overwhelmingly on trafficked labor to carry out a range of digital scams, including “pig butchering” romance scams and fraudulent crypto investment schemes.

In many cases, the workers are innocent jobseekers attracted by promises of legitimate employment, only to be kept as virtual prisoners and forced to operate scams, often on pain of beatings, mistreatment, and torture.

Laos has hosted some major online scamming factories. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), located in Bokeo province in the area where Laos’s border converges with those of Myanmar and Thailand, has become notorious for a range of illicit and criminal activities, including online fraud operations. The Lao government recently announced a crackdown on fraud operations inside the GTSEZ, which involved a number of arrests.

If past precedent is any indication, these operations have likely shifted elsewhere. In its coverage of the discovery of the internet cables, a resident of Savannakhet province, which lies across from Mukdahan, told Radio Free Asia that the cables may have been installed following the crackdown inside the GTSEZ.

“Members of call centers or online scamming gangs are everywhere in Laos,” the resident told Radio Free Asia. “They have now fled to other provinces, including Savannakhet.”

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat.