Exploring Muang Tha Khaek, Laos, a new strategic area for call center and scammer gangs luring people into work scams.,
Amid efforts by many countries to crack down hard on cross-border call center and scammer gangs in late 2025, these groups do not seem to have collapsed or disappeared. Instead, they have dispersed and spread their wings to seek new strategic areas.
The SEE TRUE team has closely monitored the movements of the “gray Chinese capital” continuously. Originally based in the Golden Triangle and the Thai-Cambodian border, the new closely watched target is "Muang Tha Khaek" in Khammuan Province, Laos, a riverside city on the Mekong rapidly transforming its landscape.
The SEE TRUE team received information from a source about a man using a profile photo of a handsome young man who lures victims to cross the border to work in call center gangs in Cambodia. When the team contacted him to apply for a job, the scam process started immediately. The man responded quickly and thoroughly questioned computer skills before offering "backend stock account management work" with starting pay of 20,000 to 30,000 baht—a tactic commonly used by cybercriminal groups to attract recruits.
Looking across the Mekong from Nakhon Phanom Province, the scene shows a roughly 10-story building surrounded by green mesh. The construction of this large building on the Mekong bank in Muang Tha Khaek, Khammuan Province, Laos, is suspected as a sign of Chinese capital's advance.
Local sources report that this area has been concessioned to a group led by 'Zhao Wei' the kingpin behind Kings Roman, the entertainment complex empire in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. The expansion into Muang Tha Khaek is believed to be an attempt to build a "Mekong Macau" catering mainly to Chinese people.
When the team took a ferry in Muang Tha Khaek, the first impression was rapid infrastructure development: roads and embankments along the Mekong. Several buildings blocked by green mesh were seen, surrounded by Chinese restaurants and an old prison being demolished to prepare for a future integrated casino and entertainment complex.
Entering the potash mining concession zone in Laos, the surroundings have fully transformed into the "Land of the Dragon" with Chinese signs and KTV entertainment venues. The clear sign of entering the potash mining industrial zone is a concrete road lined by people, shops, and facilities forming a complete Chinese community, with only a few Laotians working there.
The SEE TRUE team explored Chinese-invested industrial factories, finding a systematic layout controlled mainly by Chinese personnel, including employees and security guards. The industrial area includes row houses, four-story buildings, and detached houses, likely housing staff and senior managers.
The advance of Chinese capital in Muang Tha Khaek is not only a physical transformation but also replaces the traditional Mekong Lao culture with growth underpinned by gray business. Since Thailand is a close neighboring country sharing a border, it is inevitably affected by these operations.
This is just the beginning of exposing the new kingdom of the “gray Chinese capital” gangs. Stay tuned for the next SEE TRUE mission revealing the operations of gray Chinese capital groups in the Mekong region.
Follow the SEE TRUE mission to see the truth continuously from 13 to 14 July 2026 GMT+7 on the Thairath News Show after 21:00.
