Background
Puli Casino is a licensed casino located in Poipet City. It has been linked to several reports involving Thai nationals who claim they were held there against their will. During site visits in mid-2024, Amnesty International documented security guards at both entrances and perimeter walls topped with razor wire. Thai police investigations have tracked a large-scale scam operation to the site.
Incidents
In December 2023, the Bangkok Post reported that nine Thai nationals ‘who fell victim to a Chinese trafficking scheme’ in Cambodia were rescued. The eight men and one woman, aged 23 to 47, were reportedly rescued by Thai Immigration Bureau police and Ranger Force officers at a border checkpoint.
When questioned, one of the men told the Thai Ranger Forces that the group were tricked by a Chinese ‘call centre scam gang’, which offered jobs in a stock trading company with promises of high salaries and travel expenses. On arrival, they discovered they would be working as scammers, had their phones seized, and were confined inside the compound. According to the group, at least 200 more Thai nationals were still being held at the location at the time of their escape.
Those who escaped recounted that they had set a fire and fled in the early hours of the morning, although two more people were caught by guards in the process. A Thai Ranger commander told The Nation that several members of the group had severe cuts on their hands, legs, and bodies, while some had bruises all over their bodies. Some of these injuries are visible in images published in The Nation.
After the case was reported, the Banteay Meanchey provincial police chief told the media he would cooperate with Thai counterparts to investigate the case. The following day, Cambodia’s National Police Facebook page published a statement saying that police had investigated and found that nine Thai nationals had an argument, set fire to the dormitory, attacked security guards, and fled fearing arrest. The statement said police found no evidence supporting the claims made in Thai media.
In mid-2024, Amnesty International interviewed one of the nine people who said they escaped from Puli. The man explained that the group set a fire and then escaped during the panic. He told Amnesty that he spent months at the compound after being deceived into working there, and that he was instructed by managers to attempt to deceive others into working at the compound. He also reported witnessing managers harming other people in the compound. Based on his testimony and other evidence gathered, Amnesty determined that he was ‘highly likely trafficked to the site, their labor was exploited and they were deprived of their liberty … [and] likely a survivor of slavery’.
In July 2025, Thai police arrested two Thai men who were allegedly involved in an ‘extensive call centre scam gang’ operating from Puli Casino. Victims were tricked into making 147 payments totalling 308 million baht (US$9.55 million), which were later transferred into 79 mule accounts. After investigating complaints from scam victims, police uncovered evidence linking the suspects to a ‘Chinese-run call centre gang’ based in Puli Casino.
The gang used law enforcement impersonation scams to defraud victims, and the two men admitted to posing as police officers during scam video calls. According to Thai police, they have gathered evidence indicating over 100 people are involved in the Puli Casino-based operation, and arrest warrants have been issued for 44 people playing different roles in the operation. The two arrested men claimed they were themselves coerced into this work under threats of violence. Nonetheless, they face charges related to organised crime, fraud, and money laundering.
The earliest report we found about this location is back in 2019, when raids were conducted on two locations in Poipet suspected of housing illegal online gambling. Police detained 209 people, including 183 Thais, 12 Cambodians, five Laotians, three Indians, two Malaysians, two Indonesians, and two Taiwanese. One of the sites was Neak Tep Guesthouse (នាគទិព្វ២), the previous name of Puli. In 2020, PDT News reported the casino was illegally allowing Cambodians to gamble on the premises and also hosting online gambling.
Which Actors and Companies Have Been Linked to Puli Casino?
Lin Puli Investment Co., Ltd. received a casino license for Puli Casino in September 2022. According to Cambodia’s business registry, the address of the company chair is in Macau.
Location of Puli Casino
Puli Casino in the News
2025
6 July: Bright Choomanee, ‘Thai Men Arrested for 12 Million Baht Call Centre Scam’’, Thaiger. Link.
26 June: Amnesty International, ‘I Was Someone Else’s Property’: Slavery, Human Trafficking And Torture In Cambodia’s Scamming Compounds. Link.
2023
21 December: Taing Rinth, ‘Police to Investigate Casino Call Centre Scam Involving Thai Victims’, Khmer Times. Link.
19 December: ‘Nine Rescued from Call Centre “Hell”’, Bangkok Post. Link.
19 December: ‘Nine Thais “Set Fire to Cambodian Casino to Escape Murderous Call Centre Gang”’, The Nation. Link.
2019
21 November: ‘Immigration Detains Foreigners in Poipet for Online Gambling’, The Phnom Penh Post. Link.
20 November: ‘ឃាត់ខ្លួនជនបរទេស និងខ្មែរ ជាង២០០នាក់ ពេលបង្ក្រាបសំបុកល្បែងអនឡាញមួយកន្លែងនៅប៉ោយប៉ែត [More than 200 Foreigners and Cambodians Arrested in Crackdown on Online Gambling Den in Poipet]’, Amapapa News. Link.
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