Laos deports 129 Thai nationals linked to illegal online gambling network
Laos deported 129 Thai nationals linked to an illegal online gambling network.
The Thai workers had allegedly been employed as administrators for 11 online gambling websites.
They reportedly earned between 15,000 to 21,000 baht a month, operating the casinos from hotels in the Lao capital Vientiane.
But the group were caught in a crackdown on two hotels believed to house gambling and scam offices in Laos.
The Thais were handed over to immigration officers at the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in the Thai border province Nong Khai, on September 17.
Footage shows the alleged admins emerging from a bus as they re-entered Thailand. They wore caps, hoodies, and face coverings to conceal their identities.
Immigration officers screened the group after their return, checking for possible human trafficking victims and criminal records.
Officials said no one was initially identified as a trafficking victim and there were no outstanding arrest warrants found.
However, Police Lieutenant Colonel Teeyachapath Rungsibhrumanakul, Deputy Superintendent of Nong Khai Immigration, said 15 of those deported had allegedly entered Laos through illegal border crossings.
The immigration chief said: 'Fourteen of them had already been deported to Thailand in May, but illegally crossed back into Laos through natural border crossings. Another had left Thailand without passing through an immigration checkpoint, bringing the total to 15.'
He added that all 129 Thais face legal action for travelling to work abroad without following the required procedures. The 15 illegal entrants face additional charges over 'unlawful departure from Thailand'.
Crime networks operate sprawling fraud and human trafficking networks across Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, with many bases hidden inside heavily guarded compounds in remote border areas.
The region forms the notorious Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet around the Mekong River.
At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a blind eye to his wrongdoing.
In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square-mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.
The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.
International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.
