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The suspect, surnamed Yan, was captured through the joint
efforts of the ministry, the Chinese Embassy in Thailand and
Thai law enforcement officers, it said. Yan had returned to
China on Saturday and an investigation is ongoing, it said in a
statement late Sunday.
It vowed to deepen law enforcement cooperation with other
countries and spare no effort in arresting suspects in the scam
networks.
Earlier this month, Chinese actor Wang Xing was lured by a
promise of an acting opportunity and traveled to Thailand but
instead was taken across the border into Myanmar, where police
believe he was put to work in a call scam operation targeting
Chinese people, Thai police said.
Wang was eventually sent back to China, but his case has sparked
fears about travel to Thailand among many Chinese, clouding the
Southeast Asian country's tourism prospects during the Lunar New
Year holidays, which begin Tuesday.
Last week, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra used a
video generated by artificial intelligence to assure Chinese
tourists that her government is boosting security and attaches
great importance to the safety of tourists.
But a series of recent human trafficking cases has already
harmed Thai tourism.
A concert by Hong Kong pop star Eason Chan in Bangkok in
February was canceled due to safety concerns for Chinese
citizens. Users on China's Weibo social media platform also
expressed fears about visiting Thailand.
Criminal activity has flourished in border areas of
military-ruled Myanmar, where fighting has pitted armed ethnic
groups against the army for decades.
Chinese authorities say they have cracked down on criminal
syndicates in joint operations with neighboring countries,
leading to thousands of people being returned to China, but
those campaigns did not include arrests of ring leaders in
Myanmar.
People from Malaysia and the Philippines lured by job offerings
in Myanmar have also been forced to work in call centers against
their will.
Chinese investors operate casino complexes in Myanmar in what
amounts to autonomous development zones in cooperation with
Myanmar’s Border Guard Force, a militia belonging to the ethnic
Karen minority.
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