A Thai man was arrested near the border with Myanmar, in the Mae Sot district of Tak province, as he was using bottle rockets in an attempt to set up an illegal internet connection for call centre scammers operating in Myanmar.
The suspect was identified as 30-year-old Chongrak Leela. Thai security forces seized several items from him, including a bottle rocket system, several rolls of fibre optic and stranded cable, rope, slings and iron tubes.
Chongrak was arrested during a joint patrol along the Moei River in Mae Sot district, which is the natural demarcation line between Thailand and Myanmar.
Colonel Natthakorn Ruantib, commander of the Ratchamanoo unit, said that the security force had taken a special interest in the bottle rocket system, which they suspect was being used to carry cables across the swollen river into Myanmar, to avoid detection by Thai border forces.
He noted that the scammers who had come up with the innovative idea of using bottle rockets to set up an internet connection must have considerable technical knowhow.
In May, Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission ordered internet and phone connections cut to an area of south-eastern Myanmar, Shwe Kokko in Kayin state, which is home to large-scale online scam operations.
Most scam operators there started out with casino development, but diversified into telecom fraud schemes which have lured hundreds of workers, many from China, with promises of high pay only to be enslaved.
