A group of Banteay Meanchey villagers were called out by authorities on Monday evening for allegedly using an illegal Thai phone tower.

Police in Sisophon commune, in conjunction with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, tracked down and fined residents of 10 homes using the tower, Ou Borin, a deputy military police chief in Banteay Meanchey, said. The tower connected to a Thai telephone network, enabling suspects to make cheap calls to that country, he said.

“Cambodian citizens must not use Thai telecom networks,” said Borin, who added that many local networks allow inexpensive international calls. “It is illegal and does not benefit Cambodian companies.”

Officials discovered the tower when they were in the area to fix a nearby Cambodian network tower, Borin said.

After receiving notification from the ministry, police in Banteay Meanchey arrested residents living in houses using the network, Borin said. Rather than detaining them, police required suspects to sign contracts saying they would not repeat the offence.