{"id":75474,"date":"2026-08-19T06:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/75474\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T06:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:54:07","slug":"australia-thailand-pledge-action-amid-southeast-asia-crime-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/75474\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia, Thailand pledge action amid Southeast Asia crime boom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Australia and Thailand have pledged to do more to tackle \u201cthe evolving threat of transnational crime\u201d, as cyber bandits and human traffickers alike use new technologies to evade law enforcement and consolidate their activities.<\/p>\n<p>Rates of scams, drug trading and people trafficking are exploding in the age of artificial intelligence and crypto currencies, with a UN report last month warning of a criminal boom in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n<p>That boom has been shaped by criminal groups armed with powerful digital tools and \u201coperating across multiple illicit markets at once\u201d, according to the UN\u2019s regional crime envoy Delphine Schantz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir operating model looks like corporate franchising: Imagine specialised departments for laundering money, trafficking people, smuggling migrants, and harvesting data all plugged into the same, service-based interconnected network,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Emerging from talks on Wednesday, Anthony Albanese and his Thai counterpart Anutin Charnvirakul \u201cexpressed grave concern over the growing sophistication and proliferation of online scam operations, including the use of emerging technologies to facilitate cybercrime, financial fraud, money laundering and trafficking in persons, undermining governance, economic resilience and regional security\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey agreed to strengthen co-operation among Australian and Thai law enforcement, customs, immigration and financial intelligence agencies to disrupt the criminal networks, financial flows and supply chains that enable cyber-enabled fraud and the trafficking of illicit commodities, including narcotics and illicit tobacco,\u201d a joint statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Thailand is a transit hub for criminals smuggling their goods due to its geography and relative openness.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s north forms part of the infamous Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, making it a major corridor for synthetic drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Cyber gangs from abroad, including China, have also set up shop in the region, luring job seekers from across the world with fake high-paying job ads and then holding them captive in heavily fortified compounds, according to UN findings.<\/p>\n<p>Victims are forced under threat of violence to carry out so-called \u201cpig butchering\u201d scams targeting Westerners, including Australians.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese term refers to scammers who build trust with victims over months, often through romantic relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Scammers then get victims to invest big sums into fake cryptocurrency platforms \u2013 much like fattening a pig before slaughter.<\/p>\n<p>In their statement, the prime ministers acknowledged the work already under way, including the Australian Federal Police\u2019s efforts with the Royal Thai Police to \u201ccombat illicit drug trafficking\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>They hailed the jointly led Taskforce Storm \u201cas an important mechanism for disrupting transnational criminal networks and intercepting illicit narcotics across the Mekong subregion, preventing the use of countries in the region as transit points for drug trafficking and protecting communities in Thailand, Australia and the wider region from the harms associated with illicit narcotics\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The leaders also \u201creaffirmed their commitment to countering trafficking in persons in all its forms\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Read related topics:<a class=\"topic_tag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.news.com.au\/topics\/anthony-albanese\" data-tgev-container=\"story-topic-links\" data-tgev-label=\"Anthony Albanese\" data-tgev-order=\"1\" data-tgev-metric=\"npv\" data-tgev=\"event10\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Albanese<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia and Thailand have pledged to do more to tackle \u201cthe evolving threat of transnational crime\u201d, as cyber&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50558,49819,59617,110964,110944,90162,42963,110954,110942,110986,36282,2736,50131,110970,483,110969,110998,22,23,79825,110980,110991,21,111011,2285,49358,40033,111010,62508,110976,53914,110949,110951,110988,94763,110977,16978,110995,110962,111004,111003,110940,110983,110966,10573,110989,110957,110956,110978,110979,110945,110967,110982,110987,7519,6872,110997,111008,110950,6191,8937,7635,39122,110963,111005,7851,45089,2054,110941,3121,110947,41211,110993,12123,3580,111006,23991,23990,110961,15673,110984,111000,111002,110958,110952,110999,111007,35631,110973,5766,111001,35169,38491,110948,110955,110953,110965,110981,47148,110985,110960,42948,110968,39833,110946,110974,39522,110943,40035,37120,110959,110975,110996,110990,90180,15778,12477,110992,110972,32077,110994,111009,60823,110971,12740,7944,22441,73263],"class_list":["post-75474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-efforts","tag-s-north","tag-s-pledge","tag-s-regional-crime-envoy-delphine-schantz","tag-a-criminal-boom","tag-a-joint-statement","tag-a-major-corridor","tag-a-pig","tag-a-transit-hub","tag-a-un-report","tag-action","tag-albo","tag-all-its-forms","tag-an-important-mechanism","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-artificial-intelligence-and-crypto-currencies","tag-asia-crime-boom","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-thailand","tag-australian-and-thai-law-enforcement","tag-australians-the-chinese-term","tag-austrlia","tag-big-sums","tag-china","tag-co-operation","tag-communities","tag-corporate-franchising","tag-countries","tag-criminal-groups","tag-criminals","tag-customs","tag-cyber-bandits","tag-cyber-enabled-fraud","tag-cybercrime","tag-drug-trading","tag-drug-trafficking","tag-economic-resilience","tag-emerging-technologies","tag-fake-cryptocurrency-platforms","tag-fake-high-paying-job-ads","tag-financial-flows-and-supply-chains","tag-financial-fraud","tag-financial-intelligence-agencies","tag-governance","tag-grave-concern","tag-harvesting-data","tag-heavily-fortified-compounds","tag-his-thai-counterpart","tag-his-thai-counterpart-anutin-charnvirakul","tag-human-traffickers","tag-illicit-commodities","tag-illicit-drug-trafficking","tag-illicit-narcotics","tag-illicit-tobacco","tag-immigration","tag-its-geography-and-relative-openness-the-country","tag-job-seekers","tag-last-month-warning","tag-law-enforcement","tag-money","tag-money-laundering","tag-months","tag-multiple-illicit-markets","tag-myanmar-and-laos","tag-narcotics","tag-new-technologies","tag-newswire-politics","tag-online-scam-operations","tag-part","tag-people-trafficking","tag-persons","tag-powerful-digital-tools","tag-rates","tag-regional-security","tag-romantic-relationships-scammers","tag-scammers","tag-scams","tag-service-based-interconnected-network","tag-shop","tag-slaughter-in","tag-smuggling-migrants","tag-so-called-pig-butchering-scams","tag-southeast-asia-crime-boom","tag-southeast-asia-that-boom","tag-specialised-departments","tag-synthetic-drugs-cyber-gangs","tag-talks","tag-taskforce-storm","tag-thailand","tag-thailand-pledge-action","tag-the-age","tag-the-australian-federal-police","tag-the-criminal-networks","tag-the-evolving-threat","tag-the-growing-sophistication-and-proliferation","tag-the-harms","tag-the-infamous-golden-triangle","tag-the-leaders","tag-the-mekong-subregion","tag-the-prime-ministers","tag-the-region","tag-the-royal-thai-police","tag-the-same","tag-the-trafficking","tag-the-un","tag-the-use","tag-the-wider-region","tag-the-work","tag-the-world","tag-their-activities","tag-their-commitment","tag-their-goods","tag-their-operating-model","tag-their-statement","tag-threat","tag-trafficking","tag-trafficking-people","tag-transit-points","tag-transnational-crime","tag-transnational-criminal-networks","tag-transnational-criminals","tag-trust","tag-un-findings-victims","tag-victims","tag-violence","tag-wednesday","tag-westerners"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medi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