Police in Thailand said on Tuesday that they are trying to crack down on illegal call centres both within Thailand and outside of the country.

In a statement, Chusak Khamtanit, Technology Crime Suppression Division, said that police are working with local and foreign police to prevent people from joining the call centres.

He said that police in Thailand are stopping Thai citizens on the borders who are attempting to travel to neighbouring countries to work at the call centres. Similarly, people coming to Thailand to work at call centres are being stopped.

Khamtanit also noted that the police in Thailand are trying to prevent people from using the country as a transit point, where people travel to Thailand and then onwards to another country to join a call centre.

Other steps that the police are taking include blocking SIM cards and certain phone numbers from being able to reach people in Thailand.

Most scam call centres in the region are not in Thailand but nearby, neighbouring countries. Cambodia has been particularly hard hit by the phenomenon. TradeInformer met one person who had almost gone to work in one, when visiting the country in 2023.

Polymarket ban

Khamtanit also said in his speech that Thailand will seek to block access to Polymarket.

This is an ‘event prediction’ site, which offers something akin to binary options trading or event-based betting. For example, you can ‘trade’ on what you think the likely outcome of an election or sports event will be.

The company has been blocked in several other countries, including France and Singapore.

In other countries the app is not blocked but you are prevented from signing up to it. For instance, in the UK, you can easily access the website but it will not let you open an account.

Gambling is largely prohibited in Thailand, including via online venues. The country is in the process of passing legislation that would allow physical casinos and the government has also said it plans on introducing online gambling laws.