Klong Luek police said three rescued women had been interviewed after being held for ransom in Cambodia.
The women were identified as Jenjira, Pornnapa, and Sasinipa. According to official documents, they had been lured to work at an online gambling house in Poipet, opposite Klong Luek, Aranyaprathet district.
However, their Chinese employer later detained them, demanding 100,000 baht to free each woman, Klong Luek police said yesterday.
Local media reported that the employer had threatened to sell the women to a gang of call centers in China if their families refused to pay the ransom.
The women’s Thai families were alerted and immediately contacted the Klong Luek police through the chattting app Line.
In response, Klong Luek police station Pol Col Chanonpat Sirilert alerted the Thailand-Cambodia border committee in Aranyaprathet district. It then asked Cambodian security agencies for help in locating the women.
The agencies raided the place where the three women were reportedly being held, rescued them and took them to the Thai immigration office in the Aranyaprathet district.
Klong Luek police said they had been quarantined for two weeks after their return to Thailand. When their quarantine ended, local police began questioning them to learn more about the gang.
On Monday, 60 Thais were escorted back to Aranyaprathet district after being duped into allegedly working at an online casino operating outside Cambodia.
Authorities reported that the workers had been victims of false job advertisements and were forced to work in slave-like conditions after arriving in the neighboring country. Victims claimed they were beaten up if they refused to work, local media informed.
According to deputy national police chief Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, the online casino’s owner had ordered their families to pay a huge ransom sum in exchange for the workers’ freedom.
A group of senior police officers led by Pol Gen Surachate welcomed the 60 Thais back to the country. Authorities said their return had been made possible by the coordinated efforts of Thai and Cambodian police.
