Thai authorities said about 200 Chinese nationals were brought to the Thai side of the border with Myanmar by bus on February 20.

They are among around 1,200 foreign nationals who have been released from a crime group base in a border area of Myanmar and will successively be transported to Thailand.

The Chinese nationals were repatriated on a charter flight, with Chinese authorities set to ask about their identity and the situation surrounding their detainment at the base.

Two Japanese high school students were earlier rescued from the scam syndicate base in Myanmar.

They were apparently forced to scam elderly people in Japan out of their money by pretending to be police officers and making phone calls to them.

The 1,200 people scheduled to be handed over to Thailand do not include any Japanese nationals.

But Thai police said they suspect that about 20 Japanese people are among the more than 10,000 foreign nationals believed to be detained at crime group bases in Myanmar.

A Myanmar ethnic armed group also said there are Japanese nationals still detained.