Thailand is stopping traffic – trafficking of people. Thai police intercepted several people from the Philippines who were being smuggled through Thailand and, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Kingdom is intensifying its battle against transnational trafficking gangs in Thailand and its neighbors.

Since January, the Nikkei wrote, Thailand has “launched a renewed crackdown on scam centers along its borders, with cooperation and pressure” from other countries in the region. The scam centers are located over the border in neighboring countries, and the transnational gangs that run them traffic people to work in them with false promises of good jobs. Once there, the victims are held against their will.

Thailand’s efforts to squeeze the gangs, damage the centers and force the release of people have been “absolutely effective,” Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, of the Royal Thai Police's anti-human trafficking center, told Nikkei.

“The policy of the Thai government to cut off electricity, oil and gas put pressure,” on authorities across the borders have led them to cooperate with the rescue effort, he added.

Because Thailand has extremely well-developed infrastructure compared to most of its neighbors, communities across the borders but close to Thailand often rely on Thailand’s energy, telecommunications and other services. These resources and services provide an effective pressure point that Thailand is using against the gangs.

In a recent rescue, trafficking victims handed over to Thai authorities included Filipinos, Brazilians, Taiwanese, Cambodians, Sri Lankans, Indians and even Ethiopians.

Meanwhile, The Inquirer, a newspaper in the Philippines, reported that Thai police intercepted four Filipinos being trafficked through the Kingdom to the scam centers. Police in the Philippines estimate that about 500 of their citizens are still trapped in the scam centers.