SA KAEO — 21 January 2026, Thai border forces have arrested 14 Thai nationals accused of working as administrators for online gambling websites after they illegally crossed back into Thailand from Cambodia, authorities said.
Rangers from Company 1206 under the Burapha Task Force, working with the Aranyaprathet Special Task Unit, detained the group while they were on foot near the Thai–Cambodian border in Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaeo province, during an evening patrol.
The arrests were made near checkpoints 39–40, about 150 metres from Highway 3511, in Ban Mai Pak Hong village, Khlong Nam Sai subdistrict. Officers spotted the suspects entering from the Cambodian side via a natural crossing and stopped them for questioning.
Initial checks showed all 14 were Thai citizens, nine men and five women. Thirteen presented national identity cards, while one held a document for a person without civil registration. All confessed to illegally crossing the border from Cambodia in an attempt to return to their homes in Thailand.
During questioning, the group said they had been recruited in late November 2025 by an administrator of a Facebook page to work as online gambling website admins in Cambodia, with a promised salary of 25,000 baht per month. They were escorted from their home provinces to Sa Kaeo and crossed illegally into Cambodia.
They said they were taken to work in Bavet city, Svay Rieng province, near the Vietnamese border. While there, they claimed they were penalised financially if they failed to meet targets and were physically assaulted, prompting them to flee.
The group later contacted a Thai man known only as “Win”, believed to be living in Poipet, who charged each person 2,500 baht. He allegedly transported them to a village in Tboung Pongro subdistrict, Malai district, Banteay Meanchey province, before directing them to walk across the border, claiming a vehicle would be waiting on the Thai side.
Instead, they were intercepted by Thai authorities.
All suspects were handed over to investigators at Khlong Nam Sai police station for further legal proceedings, officials said.
