🇰🇭 Is Cambodia set to become the hub of scam compounds? (Again)

Hello friends!

There have been some extraordinarily irritating bumps in moving on over to Beehiiv and my blood is boiling. I hope today will be the last of it. Yesterday’s newsletter did not reach premium readers — my kingdom for intuitive UI. So I’ve linked it here:

I’m biased, but there is a very weird, fascinating story in Malaysia at the moment involving Israeli mobsters so definitely worth a click, I think.

Okay, let’s crack in and hope for the best.
Erin 

A new era in scam compounds?

A fascinating report here from Nikkei Asia (featuring some Myanmar Now reporting) on what the late February deportation of Chinese nationals from Thailand tells us about the scam stories plaguing the region. Just under 1,000 people were deported to China, via Myanmar, on Feb. 29 in an operation that deputy police chief Surachate Hakparn — more on him later — says involved 15 flights.

Authorities in Thailand had issued a statement prior to the deportations saying it was cooperating with China on an operation after trafficked Thais who ended up in Laukkai, in Myanmar’s messy Kokang, were repatriated. Nikkei Asia reports Myanmar junta figures that of the 52,820 foreigners deported between Oct. 5 and March 6, a staggering 96% were Chinese nationals. 

Expect to see Cambodia surge in popularity again, Jacob Sims, the former Asia-Pacific regional director at the International Justice Mission, told Nikkei Asia. “Scam groups operating in northern Myanmar are shifting en masse to Cambodia, among other hot spots, because this has proven to be a very safe, protected and stable operating environment,” Sims said.

Now, to be clear, Cambodia never really chilled out with the scam compounds despite hard work from advocates and, occasionally, the government. Rather, the lawlessness of Myanmar became more attractive. If the immense crackdown there continues Cambodia could see itself at the centre again. Indeed, “Reports on the ground from Sihanoukville would suggest it is back to boomtown status,” Sims added. 

🇰🇭 Chinese navy spotted in Ream

Looks who’s back, back again! Chinese warships were March 20 in Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base. Feels like a while since we’ve talked about that, no? As a reminder for why it’s, maybe, a big deal Nikkei Asia sums it up neatly: ‘Speculation remains that Cambodia granted the Chinese navy access to the base for military use, in exchange for assisting in renovations. Phnom Penh denies such claims, saying that the country's constitution does not permit foreign forces to hold bases on its territory.’ 

India reveals scam compound operations amid reporting back home

The steady stream of other countries rescuing nationals from scam compounds in Cambodia continues. India has teamed up with local authorities to repatriate around 250 nationals over recent months, including at least 75 in the last quarter, India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on Saturday, as reported by Reuters. It comes after media there reported around 5,000 Indian nationals were being held in Cambodia and targeting their fellow Indians in scams. 

Heritage heavy-hitters

Prime Minister Hun Manet announced last week he is keen to see another seven sites in Cambodia added to the UNESCO heritage list, Xinhua reports via Straits Times. He wants M-13 prison, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre added, which I personally think would be a great idea. He also wants Banteay Chhmar Temple; the site of Angkor Borei and Phnom Da; Preah Reach Troap Mountain historical site; Preah Khan Kampong Svay Temple; Beng Mealea Temple and Kulen Mountain historical resort on there. 

He’s also eyeing off three intangible cultural heritage list items. The krama, Cambodia’s gorgeous and ubiquitous woven scarf (I see the vision here), the Khmer wedding tradition and Cambodian Songkran. Thai Songkran went on the list last year. 

🇹🇭 🏳️‍🌈 Ever closer to the first marriage equality in the region

Remarkable work in Thailand on marriage equality! The first reading of a bill to legalise marriage equality breezed through the senate yesterday. The bill will change gendered references in the Marriage Act to gender-neutral terms. “Please, can I trust my future with you?” activist and bill representative Chanya Rattanathada said in an address to the chamber, as per France24. There are two more hearings and I’m grateful to Saksith Saiyasombut for laying it out so succinctly here: 

Cannabis confusion

An easy one there, but the cannabis law is a bit trickier. Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew stressed that cannabis would be more tightly regulated not outright banned, in an apparent correction of comments made by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. 

Srettha said Monday that cannabis would be added back onto the narcotics list in a comment that has the Nation unusually frank: ‘Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was clearly shocked by Srettha’s comment and declared on Monday that he had to listen to the entire interview before he could respond,’ the outlet reported. Anutin is a previous health minister who has long been a supporter of smart cannabis use. 

Srettha bets on casinos

Could casinos be the solution to Thailand’s revenue woes? The government sure hopes so. A new bill would seek to legalise casinos and regulate underground gambling that is already hyper-popular. “We have to admit that there is illegal gambling in the country, we are trying to get rid of (it) but it cannot be wiped out, so we have to rethink and see that it is time for this, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat told media, as reported by Reuters. He pointed to Singapore as a model, which says to me he’s never been in a taxi on the way to Changi with an uncle lamenting what happened to LKY’s city. 

It might be a hard sell to the electorate. Polling from back in 2021 found just 21% of respondents in favour. “We do not want to promote gambling, but would rather supervise it and use the investment to create jobs,” Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin clarified in a social media post. 

Red shirt legal fight

No hospital cell room for Jakrapob Penkair. The formerly prominent red shirt and Thaksin Shinawatra government spokesman was detained immediately after returning to Thailand following a 15-year self-exile, his legal representatives told AFP. He faces a string of charges including weapons charges and, crucially, something lese majeste (this is well before my time!), AFP reports. “I’ve been away for 15 years, now I’m going back to Thailand... and I hope to fight all legal challenges,” he said in a video posted before his return to the country. 

Thai police money laundering Joke

Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn, better known in Thailand by the amazing moniker Big Joke, turned himself in on Tuesday after investigators announced they’d obtained an arrest warrant for the policy heavy-hitter. He has previously dodged summonses relating to money laundering through a gambling site, Bangkok Post reports. 

It’s been a bumpy few weeks for the Thai police, with Big Joke at the centre of multiple dramas. Srettha ordered national police chief Torsak Sukvimol and Big Joke to work out of the Prime Minister’s Office on March 21 as details of this case came to light. Now, this isn’t our first Thai national police-mess rodeo. Typically, this starts getting quite messy very quickly so I’ll be following along closely just in case!  

High alert

Anthrax in Laos has Thailand on edge again, AFP reports. PM Srettha has ordered local officials to monitor livestock in an effort to “protect the public” from the disease, which has reportedly infected around 50 in Laos. 

🇻🇳 Even slow growth is explosive in Vietnam

How’s this? GDP growth slowed in Q1 — and it’s still 5.66% on a year earlier. Still, Q4 2023 booked a staggering 6.7% so I see it. It’s a drop in smartphone and car production, officials said, as per Nikkei Asia. This piece is a really nice overview of the Vietnamese economy as it stands now, including the impact the corruption cases are having. 

US talk hard, but what are they going to do about it?

The US isn’t happy with a spate of convictions on human rights activists, including five since January, Reuters reports. “We are particularly troubled by the recent 13-year sentence of Y Krec Bya, who has been a peaceful voice for freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam,” the State Department said in a statement. 

Facebook bloggers arrested over death row posts

As if to prove the point, authorities on Thursday arrested and charged Nguyen Duc Du and Hoang Quoc Viet, two Facebook bloggers, for “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe the interests of the state” after making comments relating to a death row inmate, Ho Duy Hai. The Security Investigation Agency of the Binh Duong provincial police charged the pair under Article 331 and alleged their posts about Ho Duy Hai, in which they argued he had been unjustly sentenced, had ‘insulted judiciary agencies,’ as Radio Free Asia put it.

How do Four Nos look in a changing world?

Fascinating piece here in the East Asia Forum from Lowy Institute’s Abdul Rahman Yaacob (crossover episode). He takes a look at Vietnam’s long-running ‘Four Nos’ policy — ‘no military alliances, no siding with one country to act against another, no foreign military bases or using Vietnam as leverage to counteract other countries and no threat or use of force’ — and how that can work in a contemporary setting.

“Vietnamese defence officials privately expressed the view that any defence and foreign policy must reflect evolving regional strategic situations. For them, a blind adherence to a specific doctrine — in this case, non-alignment — without acknowledging the security threats that Vietnam faces, is an irrational choice,” Abdul Rahman Yaacob writes.