Thai and Cambodian police have agreed to establish a cooperative plan for the prevention and suppression of transnational crimes, specifically online scams and human trafficking in Cambodia.
The two countries signed the minutes of an over 10-hour meeting yesterday, held in Sa Kaeo province between the police forces of the two countries to follow up on the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting held on September 10th in Koh Kong province of Cambodia.
The Thai delegation was led by Pol Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, the police inspector-general, while the Cambodian side was represented by Pol Lt-Gen Seang Thearith, Cambodia’s deputy national police chief.
Pol Gen Thatchai said that the Thai police submitted information yesterday to the Cambodian police, about the call centres and their locations in Cambodia, adding that the Cambodian delegation agreed to develop a strategy to deal with the call centres and to report back at the next GBC meeting.
He explained that the meeting lasted so long because there were many details discussed extensively and adjustments had to be made before both sides finally agreed to sign the minutes.
At the GBC meeting on September 10, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to develop an action plan, with both sides drafting their own for submission to the GBC for consideration on September 25. The two plans will be merged for finalisation by the GBC at a special meeting on October 10th.
Meanwhile, Sa Kaeo Governor Prinya Phothisat and Maj-Gen Benjapol Dechatiwong Na Ayutthaya, commander of the Burapha Task Force, are due to meet with the Cambodian governor of Banteay Meanchey province today, at the Cambodian border checkpoint in Poipet, to discuss the problem of illegal encroachment on Thai territory in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew of Sa Kaeo province by Cambodian settlers.
Meanwhile, it is reported that a group of Cambodian civilians dismantled barbed wire fencing in Ban Nong Ya Kaew yesterday, as a result of a misunderstanding that Thai troops had erected additional fencing.
Troop reinforcements were sent to the scene to explain to the Cambodians that there was no additional fencing. The situation returned to normal and the Cambodians later withdrew.
About 35 Cambodian households are occupying four hectares of land in Ban Nong Ya Kaew.
