The Thai prime minister earlier this week linked the proliferation of illegal online scam centres to Cambodia, but Cambodian authorities have denied involvement.
Human rights group Amnesty International on Thursday accused Cambodia’s government of “deliberately ignoring” abuses by cybercrime gangs who have trafficked people from across the world, including children, into slavery at brutal scam compounds.
Amnesty said in a report that it had identified 53 scam centres and dozens more suspected sites across the country, including in the capital Phnom Penh.
A Cambodian government spokesman said the country rejected allegations of inaction.
CONTROVERSIAL CALL
At another part of the border, former Cambodian premier Hun Sen on Thursday morning visited troops and officials in Oddar Meanchey province, opposite the Thai province of Surin.
Local media footage showed Hun Sen, in military fatigues, arriving by helicopter and meeting with officials in the area.
Hun Sen, the president of the country’s senate and father of incumbent premier Hun Manet, still wields enormous clout in Cambodian politics.
The veteran Cambodian politician and the Thai premier until recently enjoyed warm personal ties, helped by the close relationship between Hun Sen and Paetongtarn’s influential father, Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
But in a leaked phone conversation with Hun Sen, Paetongtarn was heard denigrating a Thai military commander – a red line in a country in which the military holds significant clout – piling political pressure on the Thai government.
The prime minister has since apologised over the leaked call, but the incident was used as a justification by the Bhumjaithai party to leave the government coalition last week.
Bhumjaithai said earlier this week that it will seek a parliamentary no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Paetongtarn and her cabinet over the leaked call.
Paetongtarn is also facing judicial scrutiny after a group of senators gave the Constitutional Court and a national anti-graft body a wide remit to investigate her conduct. Decisions from either body could lead to her removal.
Anti-government groups are also planning a street protest starting Saturday, demanding her resignation.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thai-cambodia-leaders-disputed-border-tensions-paetongtarn-shinawatra-5204671
