this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2025
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Chinese authorities are requiring citizens from locales they broadly consider to be high risks for online fraud or “unlawful” emigration to submit additional paperwork and obtain approval from multiple government offices during passport application processes. Those not meeting these cumbersome requirements are often denied passports. The government has long restricted people’s access to passports in areas where Tibetans and Uyghurs predominantly live.

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[–] MuskyMelon 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Many Mandarin speakers around South-East Asian are getting lured by high paying foreign jobs, getting kidnapped on arrival in Bangkok or Phnom Penh and then end up working in scam centres in Myanmar and Cambodia. Malaysians are highly sought after because many are fluent in both English and Mandarin.

[–] dogslayeggs 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm not making the connection between what you are discussing and the story here.

[–] cm0002 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

He's filling in the details on the fraud the article references I think

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Tangentially perhaps, what they're talking about is related to pig butchering scams running out of "business parks" situated along the border with Thailand (in Cambodia and Myanmar). The people operating the scams are essentially kidnap victims lured with false job listings and coerced into working to pay off phony debts. Many of these are Chinese nationals but it seems to be a pretty mixed bag.

The article focuses on Chinese nationals seeking to leave the country to travel somewhere with casinos. Remote casino resorts have been sprouting up around various parts of Southeast Asia over the last decade or so. Many of these are also situated not far from the border with Thailand, but I've only heard of Chinese casinos in Myanmar and Laos. Casinos are illegal in Thailand so these attract Thai nationals as well as tourists looking to pass through Thailand to evade suspicion.

The owners/operators of these fraud centers and casinos are thought to related or even one and the same groups of Chinese "investors"/"businessmen". This is largely anecdotal speculation however, as I'm not able to provide a reliable source for the connection here.