Crystal Dike
She Zhijiang, the Chinese national accused of building a vast illicit gambling empire in Southeast Asia, has been extradited from Thailand to China, ending his years-long battle against the order. He had been detained in Thailand since 2022 after Thai police arrested him following a Chinese request to Interpol. A Thai court upheld the extradition earlier this week, and he arrived at a Bangkok airport on Wednesday under the escort of two security officials.
China accuses She Zhijiang of running illegal online gambling rings and links him to major cyberscam operations that have defrauded thousands of Chinese nationals, prompting a crackdown from Beijing. He is best known for developing Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko city, near the Thai border. Marketed as a resort for Chinese tourists, the city’s glitzy buildings are allegedly used for fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking.
A BBC visit to Shwe Kokko earlier this year found few foreign visitors, though local residents reported scam operations were still ongoing. She Zhijiang and his company, Yatai, have been sanctioned by the UK and the US for links to human rights abuses associated with these scam hubs. Speaking from prison earlier this year, he denied involvement in telecom fraud but acknowledged that scammers were likely to operate in Shwe Kokko, describing it as “completely open to anyone.”
She Zhijiang’s extradition comes ahead of a historic visit by Thailand’s king to Beijing — the first state visit to China by a reigning Thai monarch — highlighting deepening ties between the two nations. The move marks a significant step in Beijing’s efforts to crack down on the Southeast Asian cyberscam networks he helped establish.