 "Myanmar gambling scam: Thailand extradites Chinese national with Cambodian passport to China")
Thailand has extradited a Chinese-born casino tycoon accused of running cross-border criminal operations in Southeast Asia, following a coordinated effort with China to curb billion-dollar scam networks considered a threat to national security.
She Zhijiang was formally handed over to Chinese authorities in Bangkok on Wednesday after spending time in a Thai prison. Both governments described the extradition as a product of close collaboration aimed at dismantling criminal syndicates operating in regions such as Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, where policing remains weak.
A naturalised Cambodian citizen, She has been on China’s wanted list since 2014 for allegedly running illegal gambling businesses. He was arrested in Bangkok in 2022 and has denied any link to scam activities, according to Jirabhop Bhuridej, assistant commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police.
A Thai criminal court approved his extradition in May 2024, a decision that was upheld earlier this week after an appeal by She’s legal team was rejected.
“The Chinese have asked for this suspect, which is a high priority for China,” Police Lieutenant General Jirabhop Bhuridej, an assistant commissioner-general, told reporters.
She will be extradited to China to stand trial for operating illegal casinos and gambling websites, as well as using Myanmar as a base for these illegal operations and to launder money, a Thai police statement said on Wednesday.
China, which has dispatched a plane to pick She up at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, also expressed its gratitude to the Thai authorities for their handling of the case.
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View All“This demonstrates the high level of our cooperation,” said Zhao Mengtao, a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok.
The two countries will strengthen their cooperation in tackling organised crime like online gambling and cyber scams, Zhao added.
Responding to the extradition, his lawyer Sanya Eadjongdee called the process “unusual”, but he did not elaborate. He said that She continues to deny any wrongdoing.
At the time of his arrest, She headed a gambling empire that included a $15 billion casino, entertainment and tourism complex called Shwe Kokko on the Thai-Myanmar border.
The U.S. Treasury Department in September sanctioned nine companies and individuals tied to Shwe Kokko for their links to regional scam and trafficking networks.
The border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have become hubs for online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the United Nations says billions of dollars have been earned from the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of people forced to work in these compounds.
With inputs from agencies
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