Thailand and China will work together to combat fast-growing networks of illegal call centres along the Thai border with Myanmar and Cambodia, often staffed by trafficked workers, that aim to defraud people in phone and online scams.

A U.S. national that was kidnapped and drugged in Thailand and then smuggled into Cambodia was recently rescued by Cambodian police. As reported by the Khmer Times and The Phnom Penh Post, in a statement released on Tuesday,

Thailand and China are collaborating to combat illegal call centres along their borders, tackling phone scams and human trafficking.

Since a 2014 coup, Bangkok has either been complicit or turned a blind eye to the actions of the security forces of other countries.

For government critics in Southeast Asia, fleeing abroad does not necessarily mean safety. Thailand is growing particularly dangerous for foreigners seeking protection.

Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom.

The private sector has applauded calls by Prime Minister Hun Manet to hasten the development of Cambodia’s railway networks. He encouraged the completion of negotiation procedures for a railway concession agreement, by resetting the framework for public-private partnership (PPP) investment in existing lines.

Thai national Ekkalak Paenoi faces charges including premeditated murder in the Tuesday shooting death of Lim Kimya, 74, in the Thai capital.

The Thai authorities accused an adviser to Hun Sen of hiring the gunman who killed a former Cambodian opposition figure in Bangkok last week.

Wang Xing was living in fear. His head had been shaved. He couldn’t sleep and was in a strange place where his captors were forcing him to type – the first phase of training for an unwanted role.

Users on Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu asked if it was safe to travel to Thailand while a Hong Kong singer-actor canceled his Bangkok concert.

The Cambodian government has extradited to Thailand the Thai ex-marine suspected of murdering former Cambodian opposition MP Lim Kimya, a dual Cambodian-French citizen, who was shot dead on Tuesday in a tourist area of Bangkok.