The Thai–Laos Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River that connects Thailand and Laos was envisioned at its opening in 1994 as a blessing for the two neighboring countries in terms of their economies, trade, tourism, investment, cultural exchanges, transportation and logistics. It worked, and to expand capacity, a second Friendship Bridge was opened in 2007, only in recent years the original intent was lost on some users. More specifically, those who chose to use the bridge for other purposes.
Per reports in the Bangkok Post, The Diplomat and Taiger, the 2nd Friendship Bridge hosted a wide range of illegal cables used for various unapproved “uses,” such as cross-border call center scams. National Broadcasting and Telecommunications commissioner Pol. Gen. Nathathorn Prousoontorn said that a total of 16 large-sized, high-speed fiber optic cables were laid across the bridge. “There were two 216-core cables, two 96-core cables and 14 24-core internet cables.”
An inspection found that scam gangs had also installed illegal internet cables several km into Myanmar. “Our sleuths used hi-tech gear to trace these cables, discovering they served a bustling business area in Laos, with the capacity to mislead up to 10,000 users at once,” Prousoontorn said.
A portion of the cables were laid by an authorized company, only that business exceeded their authority. Prousoontorn said that some of the cables were installed by a company the NBTC had licensed to provide telecom service, but only in Thailand. There also appears to have been multiple participants, and some arrests have been made. A joint task force in Tak caught one person who was using a water rocket launcher to extend Internet cables across the border into Myanmar for Chinese clients. The suspect admitted being hired.
“Given the size of the cables, they can transmit signals to four economic towns covering areas of hundreds of kilometres and provide internet services to many scammers who have moved their operations (from Laos) to this area,” Prousoontorn said. “This is our biggest seizure of illegal internet cables. Cutting them has prevented the call center gangs in this area from accessing the internet,” he said.
Assistant National Police Chief, Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitaneelaboot said that while rogue cables have surfaced over rivers and borderlands before, never have they been laid so boldly across international bridges.
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