BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH – Deeply strained relations between Thailand and Cambodia deteriorated further on Tuesday when Thai police mounted coordinated raids on properties connected to Kok An, a tycoon and four-term Cambodian senator with close ties to Senate President Hun Sen.
An arrest warrant was issued on Monday for Kok An, the so-called "Godfather of Poipet," a major transnational gambling and scamming town on the border with Thailand.
 |
| Thai police officers search the house of the daughter of Cambodian tycoon and senator Kok An in Bang Phli on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok. (Photo by Thai Police) |
"This is a significant development in dismantling the kind of network that exists across the Mekong," Benedikt Hofmann, acting representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok, told Nikkei Asia. "It also shows how these networks operate seamlessly across different jurisdictions, taking advantage of gaps in regional cooperation and cross-border investigations."
A Complex Political Backdrop
 |
| Kok An's Crown Casino Resort in the Cambodian border town Poipet with a rooftop nightclub on the left and reputed scam building lit up on a Saturday night. (Photo obtained by Nikkei) |
The raid occurs amid heightened tensions. All crossings between the two countries are currently closed following a border dispute concerning an ancient Khmer clifftop temple the Thais call Khao Phra Viharn and Cambodians call Prasat Preah Vihear.
The rift widened dramatically last month after Hun Sen released a recording of a private conversation with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. The recording led to Paetongtarn's suspension by the Constitutional Court for allegedly infringing on national sovereignty with comments about the Thai military. However, before her suspension, she had ordered a crackdown on scamming operations along the border.
A Casino and Scamming Empire
Kok An owns a cluster of properties around his Crown Casino Resort in Poipet, which directly overlooks Aranyaprathet, a Thai border town. These include an 18-story building from which a Thai national and suspected scammer fell to his death in 2022.
A Thai victim who escaped back across the border in late 2022 described to Nikkei various scamming operations within the complex, including fake "Thai police stations" set up on the lower floors of the casino building. One sophisticated scam involves individuals impersonating police—some of whom are genuine former Thai police officers in real uniforms—extorting victims by threatening arrest for crimes they did not commit.
"If there's merit to the case, it indicates they have known and had evidence all along but largely allowed the cyber scams to operate with impunity," said Ou Virak, a political analyst and founder of the think tank Future Forum. "If not, this is a political manhunt and likely revenge for the leak of the audio clip between Hun Sen and the Thai Prime Minister. It could be a combination of both."
Responses from All Sides
On the Cambodian side, Ministry of Interior spokesperson Touch Sokhak stated he was "not 100% sure" about the allegations against Kok An and believed it could be Thailand's intention to create a strong association between Cambodia and the cyberscam industry. Sokhak called the action a political move rather than a genuine attempt to address cybercrime.
"The crimes happening in their country have been going on for a long time, so why have they only recently started to crack down?" he asked. "This propaganda is intended to distract from the political unrest in Thailand and to cover for the Thai military's invasion of Cambodia."
Thai media reported that police raided 19 locations on Tuesday, seizing luxury cars and 27 million baht (approximately $830,000) in cash in "Operation Shut Down Mule Accounts, Hunt Cambodian Capital." Thousands of so-called "mule accounts" at Thai and Singaporean banks are used as initial gateways for sophisticated money laundering schemes.
A key target was a mansion in Bangkok linked to Kok An's 42-year-old daughter, who reportedly holds a Thai ID card under the name Juree Khlongkijjakol and is currently in Taiwan.
As of now, Kok An has not commented on the raids.
