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Feb. 3rd, 2025 10:24 pmi've heard about recent issues with gangs forcing trafficking victims to create fake gofundme scams/spam from denise (who's generally extremely reliable and somebody i'd put immense trust in reporting and knowledge even if we don't always agree), but this article was incredibly in-depth and nuanced on the reporting issue, gave a bunch of links to other articles, and put actual faces to names without falling into generalized asia-phobia. sobering read.
In a deeply reported investigation published on January 16 through the WeChat based outlet Positive Connections (正面连接) , journalist Wu Qin (伍勤) provided rare insight into the cyber scam industry along the Myanmar-Thailand border. In recent years, thousands have been trafficked to compounds run by criminal gangs on the Myanmar side and forced to engage in online fraud. The issue was given greater public attention in China and across the region last month as it emerged that a well-known Chinese actor, Wang Xing (王星), had been abducted while in Thailand and held for three days in a compound across the border in Myanmar.
Wu’s story, which required months of on-the-ground reporting in Mae Sot, on the Thailand side of the Moei River, takes an intimate look at the complex infrastructure and mechanics of criminal operations in the region. Drawing on a wide range of sources — including Chinese victims, Thai Chinese brokers, Myanmar Chinese who secure land for operations from ethnic armed groups, immigration and border authorities, and others — Wu’s piece is also noteworthy for how it questions the Chinese public discourse on the scam industry, which has focused blame on Southeast Asian countries despite the fact that Chinese criminal groups are at the heart of operations.
In a deeply reported investigation published on January 16 through the WeChat based outlet Positive Connections (正面连接) , journalist Wu Qin (伍勤) provided rare insight into the cyber scam industry along the Myanmar-Thailand border. In recent years, thousands have been trafficked to compounds run by criminal gangs on the Myanmar side and forced to engage in online fraud. The issue was given greater public attention in China and across the region last month as it emerged that a well-known Chinese actor, Wang Xing (王星), had been abducted while in Thailand and held for three days in a compound across the border in Myanmar.
Wu’s story, which required months of on-the-ground reporting in Mae Sot, on the Thailand side of the Moei River, takes an intimate look at the complex infrastructure and mechanics of criminal operations in the region. Drawing on a wide range of sources — including Chinese victims, Thai Chinese brokers, Myanmar Chinese who secure land for operations from ethnic armed groups, immigration and border authorities, and others — Wu’s piece is also noteworthy for how it questions the Chinese public discourse on the scam industry, which has focused blame on Southeast Asian countries despite the fact that Chinese criminal groups are at the heart of operations.
