Cambodia is targeting the Sa Kaeo side, exposing grey money funding sources involving casinos and scammer gangs. The information reveals links between casinos, scammer gangs in Poipet, and investor groups in Sa Kaeo, forming a complex transnational crime network entangled in grey business operations, local politics, and money laundering.
The connections can be summarized as follows:
Scammer and Poipet casino network: connections with Thai investors.
Poipet (Cambodia) and Aranyaprathet (Sa Kaeo, Thailand) are not merely border crossing points for trade and tourism but have become a "center of cybercrime" with an organized operational system.
The main components are as follows:
Investigations by cyber police (ECCD) and Provincial Police Region 2 reveal that call center and scammer gangs often use "casino buildings" or high-rise towers in Poipet as their office locations.
Leasing divisions: large buildings in Poipet (such as Crown Casino or 18-25 story towers owned by major investors) are subdivided and leased to over 100 Chinese criminal groups to establish scammer bases.
Connection with Thai individuals: Thai investors in Sa Kaeo province and nearby areas act as "logistical supporters," managing cross-border internet systems, supplying provisions, and facilitating staff border crossings.
This is the clearest link between the Thai side and Poipet:
Mule account sources: Sa Kaeo side (Aranyaprathet) is identified as a major supplier of mule accounts. Thai investors own the networks, purchasing accounts from local villagers to pass on to scammer gangs in Poipet for use.
Know Your Customer (KYC): when large money transfers requiring facial scans occur, victims or mule account owners are taken across the border from Thailand to buildings in Poipet (such as the third floor of Golden Casino) to complete facial scans and finalize transactions.
In 2025, the Thai Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for an "Oknha"—a Cambodian billionaire businessman closely connected with the elite (such as "Oknha Kok An")—on charges of supporting scammer gangs.
Connection with Sa Kaeo investors: investigations reveal these networks often have business ties with local politicians and influential figures in Thai border provinces, using them as channels for money laundering through real estate, luxury cars, and legitimate businesses in Thailand. Raids on 19 sites in Bangkok and surrounding areas linked to Poipet capital uncovered assets worth over 1.1 billion baht.
Thai investors and brokers on the Sa Kaeo side act as "origins" in deceiving or transporting Thai workers across the border.
Victim categorization: Thai victims are divided into those who willingly go to work (black market workers) and those who are deceived and forced into labor (human trafficking). Brokers in Sa Kaeo receive commissions for smuggling people across natural border routes.