A suspected Chinese scammer was arrested for allegedly smuggling Elon Musk Starlink satellite dishes into Thailand.

Lyu Huangyu was stopped at a police checkpoint when cops found him delivering 38 crates of goods near Tak province in northern Thailand, on March 22.

Suspicious officers inspected the containers labelled as food, but instead found the satellite receivers in the containers. He was detained for questioning at the Phawo district police station.

Officiers said Lyu allegedly admitted to collecting the devices in neighbouring Chiang Mai province, and was delivering them to Tak province to be handed over to an accomplice.

A police spokesman said: 'It is believed that the 38 boxes of Starlink satellite receivers were destined for a call centre gang in Myanmar's Myawaddy Township in Karen State.'

He added Lyu remained detained for further legal action.

Thailand, China, and Myanmar have been co-ordinating to crack down on the organised crime centres carrying out romance scams, illegal gambling, and fake investment schemes.

The Thai government last month had cut power to border towns in a bid to starve the boiler room gangs, which have sprouted along the border near the notoriously crime-ridden Golden Triangle region.

The Golden Triangle lies in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.

In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.

The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.

International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.