A sprawling scam compound on Cambodia’s border with Thailand housed an estimated 10,000 workers and included offices, dormitories, villas, and restaurants, underscoring the industrial scale of Southeast Asia’s cyberfraud industry, according to an Associated Press report from a Thai military tour of the site.

The complex, known as the O’Smach Resort, covers about 197 acres, or 80 hectares, equivalent to about 150 American football fields, the AP reported, citing Thai military officials who escorted journalists through the area on Tuesday. Thai forces seized the compound in December during a border conflict with Cambodia, saying the Cambodian side had used it as a base for launching attacks.

The compound is owned by Cambodian politician Ly Yong Phat, who faces U.S. sanctions for rights abuses linked to the same complex, although it was not clear whether newer construction at the site also belongs to him, the news agency said. 

The visit offered a rare look inside one of the region’s largest known scam centers, part of a network of compounds that has expanded across Southeast Asia since the pandemic. The AP, citing the U.N. office on Human Rights, said about 300,000 workers across the region are caught up in the scam industry.

Inside a four-story office building, desks still held snacks, Chinese-language scripts, and notes laying out elements of the scams, the news outlet reported. American SIM cards were also found at the site, which Thai officials said was likely used to target victims in the United States.

One script described an elaborate fictional persona named Mila, a woman portrayed as having made substantial profits in gold options trading. According to the AP, the 24-page script included a detailed backstory involving the death of Mila’s husband from leukemia, a childhood marked by bullying and a move to South Africa to live with an uncle.

Thai military officials told reporters the compound contains 157 buildings, including 29 that housed scam companies and their offices. The rest included large dormitory blocks as well as higher-end housing such as apartments and three-story villas. The compound also had multiple Chinese restaurants catering to different regional tastes, including Hunan and Shaxian cuisine and hot-and-sour rice noodles, according to the AP.

Read more at the Associated Press