Thai teen escapes Poipet scam gang by swimming home

A 19-year-old Thai man has been detained after allegedly swimming across a canal from Cambodia into Thailand to escape a scam operation in Poipet, where he said he had been forced to work for more than three years.

The man told authorities he had been recruited for what appeared to be a legitimate online job through TikTok, only to be taken across the border and sold on to a Chinese-owned company operating a scam network.

Thai soldiers found him on the morning of 31 July near a natural crossing at Ban Wang Mon, Tha Kham subdistrict, Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaeo province. He was walking along the border area alone when officers stopped and questioned him.

The operation involved the Burapha Force, Aranyaprathet Task Force, Burapha Force intelligence personnel and Rangers Company 1203, which had been monitoring the area after receiving information that someone would attempt to cross the border illegally.

Job offer led to Poipet scam operation

During questioning, the man said he had applied for work through TikTok three years earlier. He was offered a job answering online chats as an administrator, with a monthly salary of 20,000 baht.

He said a vehicle collected him from his home in Chonburi province and took him to Aranyaprathet. A Cambodian then allegedly helped him cross the border illegally into Poipet.

Instead of the promised job, he said he was sold to a company run by Chinese nationals and forced to work within a scam network. He said he had been unable to return to Thailand.

According to his account, he escaped after Cambodian authorities launched a crackdown on call-centre gangs. His Chinese supervisor allegedly fled with money, allowing him to get away. He then swam across a canal into Thailand and followed natural routes through the border area, hoping to reach his family.

Warning over online recruitment offers

The man did not make it home. Rangers detained him before handing him to investigators at Khlong Luek Police Station for legal proceedings. Authorities will also seek to trace the broker network accused of using social media to lure Thai people into overseas work.

For foreigners in Thailand, the case is another reminder that criminal recruitment networks operate openly on social media and can target jobseekers with offers that appear routine, including chat-admin and customer-service roles. Anyone considering work across the Cambodian border should verify an employer independently, ensure they have proper immigration and work documentation, and avoid arrangements involving unofficial border crossings.

Poipet, directly opposite Aranyaprathet, is a major border and casino town and has repeatedly been linked to regional online scam operations. Thai authorities have warned that high-paying jobs advertised online can conceal trafficking and forced criminal activity.

Picture courtesy of Amarin

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1 August 2026

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