India to Repatriate 500 Citizens from Thailand After Raid on Scam Hub

Key Points

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, that India will be dispatching a plane to bring back 500 of its citizens stranded in Thailand. This follows a military crackdown launched by Myanmar on the KK Park cybercrime compound, one of Southeast Asia's most notorious scam hubs. 

The labourers ran away from KK Park, a hub of massive computer generated fraud and human trafficking, to a border town seeking sheltering. KK Park, in the Myawaddy region of Myanmar, has been a great source of transnational cyber scams operated by organised criminal gangs that are linked with local militias.

Thai authorities claim over 1,500 individuals from 28 countries have entered Thailand since the raids started last week. Almost 500 of them are Indian nationals. Tak province has detained hundreds of other people, citizens of China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Indonesia to undergo screening and legal procedures.

"Nearly 500 Indians are at Mae Sot. The Indian government will send a plane to take them back directly," PM Anutin told reporters. He did not clarify whether they would be treated as victims of trafficking or as participants in illegal activity. The Indian embassy in Bangkok has not commented publicly on the case.

Since Myanmar fell into chaos after the 2021 military takeover, places like KK Park have become centers for large scale international fraud. These complexes run all kinds of scams, from fake investment schemes and romance cons to crypto fraud. They've trapped thousands of people from other countries who thought they were coming for legitimate sources. Most victims were fooled by job ads promising high pay, only to find themselves trapped and forced to scam others, under the threat of violence. 

See Also: Defamation charges filed against those who exposed the billion-dollar scam network in Thailand and Cambodia

Experts believe Myanmar's military government has turned a blind eye to these operations because they bring in money and keep border militias loyal to the junta happy. China has put pressure on Myanmar to shut these places down, especially since many Chinese citizens have been engaged in these scams as both operators and victims.

In February 2025, authorities conducted a major crackdown that sent over 7,000 workers back to their home countries and cut off cross border internet access to disrupt the scam operations. However, satellite photos and reports from locals show that the facilities were rebuilt surprisingly quickly in the months after.

After the most recent raids, Thailand has beefed up security along its northern border and expanded its detention centers to handle the surge of people crossing over. Thai military officials said their response "follows legal and humanitarian standards" and that they're working closely with Myanmar and international organizations to identify the people who've been trafficked. 

Indian nationals are among the largest groups found in the scam zones, often recruited through online job offers promising high salaries in "tech support" or "customer service." Once inside, many are coerced into conducting online fraud under armed supervision.

While rescue efforts continue, authorities have warned that cross border trafficking networks remain active. For those still trapped in compounds across the Myanmar borderlands, the latest raids offer a brief reprieve but not yet a resolution.

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