Scam calls can target anyone—even Thailand’s Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra revealed this week that she received a scam call from someone impersonating a foreign leader, though she didn’t disclose who.
“I could hear clearly from the voice that it sounded like the leader of another country,” she said on Wednesday, suggesting the caller might have used AI to mimic the voice.
The interaction began with a voice message inquiring about her well-being and expressing eagerness to collaborate. Paetongtarn replied via text, confirming she was fine, and the individual promised to follow up.
Later, the person attempted to call her. “Fortunately, it was 11 p.m., and I fell asleep, so I didn’t answer,” said Paetongtarn, 38, who became Thailand’s youngest prime minister in August and is the daughter of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
The next morning, she noticed the missed call and replied to arrange a conversation. However, she received another voice message requesting a donation, claiming Thailand was the only ASEAN member that hadn’t contributed.
When a subsequent text provided bank details for a foreign account, Paetongtarn realized it was a scam.
She didn’t specify when the messages were sent.
Southeast Asia has emerged as a hotspot for telecom and online fraud, particularly in border towns linking Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar—where ongoing civil conflict has exacerbated the issue. According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands of individuals have been trafficked into online criminal operations across the region.
The majority of those trafficked come from Southeast Asia, South Asia, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with some victims originating from as far as Africa and Latin America.
Victims of human trafficking in Southeast Asia are often coerced into conducting “pig-butchering scams,” a scheme where psychological manipulation and other tactics are used to defraud individuals worldwide. These scams often involve tricking people into fake online investments or romantic relationships, sometimes robbing them of their life savings. Targets span the globe, including the United States.
In 2023, Americans reportedly lost $3.5 billion to the Southeast Asian scamming industry, according to the United States Institute of Peace, a nonprofit based in Washington.
Earlier this month, a high-profile case highlighted the issue when Chinese actor Wang Xing, 22, was found and returned to Thailand after disappearing near the Thai-Myanmar border in what authorities suspect was a human trafficking incident. Wang had been lured under the pretense of a casting call in Thailand but was instead trained to scam other Chinese citizens.
The incident sparked widespread attention on Chinese social media, intensifying calls for action against scam operations.
At the ASEAN Digital Ministers’ Meeting in Bangkok on Thursday, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra emphasized that online scams pose a significant threat to public safety and require regional cooperation to combat. She also stressed the need to address these crimes to protect Thailand’s critical tourism industry, noting that China is one of its largest sources of visitors.
On Friday, Chinese authorities announced that Chinese and Thai police had jointly arrested 12 domestic and foreign suspects linked to scam operations responsible for the disappearance of Chinese nationals.
