The political collaboration between the governments of China and Thailand has been strengthened in the fight against illegal gambling.
Both governments stated they are committed to ‘defending the safety and security of their citizens’ in a joint statement released after China’s President Xi Jinping met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul last week.
The countries have also agreed to increase cooperation in combatting transnational crimes, including online scams, money laundering and illegal gambling.
“Both sides agreed to enhance collaboration between law enforcement and judicial agencies, as well as extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, to effectively tackle these challenges,” the statement added.
These latest affirmations continue an improved relationship between China and Thailand following the latter’s decision to abandon plans to introduce casinos.
During the process, led by former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Jinping warned that the move would lead to social issues and increased crime related to the venues.
However, once the plans were shelved, Charnvirakul reassured the Chinese Premier that he had no plans to pursue casino regulation in a bid to improve relationships between the two countries and reignite Chinese tourism to Thailand.
Earlier this year, police in Thailand also tracked down and arrested Bei Minsi, a Chinese national with alleged links to 239 illegal gambling platforms.
Minsi is accused of being part of an illegal gambling network that was used by more than 330,000 Chinese players, generating turnover of 13bn baht (£300.9m), and is now being prepared for deportation to China.
Authorities in China have sought to influence similar action among other nations across Southeast Asia in an attempt to tackle crimes that continue to blight the region.
In April, Cambodia shut down 91 casinos accused of supporting online fraud just days after China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, visited Cambodia and urged the government to take stronger action against cross-border gambling and online fraud.
