A Chinese security official recently visited the Thai-Myanmar border to press for a solution.
Nontarat Phaicharoen/Bangkok
Thailand will cut the supply of electricity to eastern Myanmar border zones being used as bases for online scam centers, money laundering and human trafficking, government officials said on Tuesday.
Scam centers proliferated in lawless corners of Southeast Asia following the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, when many casinos turned to online fraud operations, often staffed by unsuspecting job-seekers lured by false offers of work, to make up for lost gamblers.
The rescue of a Chinese actor from a fraud operation in eastern Myanmar last month raised international alarm about the dangers, scared off Chinese tourists from visiting Thailand and ramped up pressure on governments to take action to rein in the businesses.
“We’ve confirmed real security impacts,” Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai told reporters.
“Gradual cuts might be too slow. Today, I’m ordering the NSC to direct PEA to cut power immediately. This requires immediate action, not bureaucratic delays,” said Phumtham, referring to the National Security Council and the Provincial Electricity Authority.
The scam centers in eastern Myanmar’s Karen state have run on electricity and internet services from neighboring Thailand for years and this is not the first time that Thai authorities have raised the possibility of cutting off the utilities.
Researchers estimate that scam centers in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, which are often run by ethnic Chinese gangsters, have raked in billions of dollars.
The rights group Justice for Myanmar said in a report last year that governments and businesses across the region were enabling cyber scam operations by failing to take action against the profitable flows they generated.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, speaking with her defense minister, vowed decisive action.
“No hesitation .… Once we clearly understand the border situation, we can cut the power right away,” she said.
“What has happened has caused significant harm to the Thai people and the country’s reputation,” the prime minister added, referring to a string of high-profile human trafficking cases that made headlines across Asia and damaged Thailand’s tourist industry.
“Legal proceedings are inevitable. We cannot let this slide as it’s a serious national issue concerning all countries. If we don’t act after making arrests, we’ll lose credibility,” Paetongtarn added.
The Thai prime minister heads to China Wednesday for talks with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang. A spokesperson said Paetongtarn would discuss the issue of scam centers with Chinese leaders.
Chinese security official visits
Many human trafficking victims have said they were lured by false job offers then forced to defraud people by convincing them over the phone or online to put money into bogus investments.
The Thai government’s decision to cut electricity to the scam centers follows a visit this month by Liu Zhongyi, assistant minister of China’s Ministry of Public Security.
Liu traveled to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, opposite the eastern Myanmar zones run by a pro-junta militia where the scam centers have proliferated, and discussed solutions with Thai security agencies, media reported.
China, which is also home to many of the victims of the scammers, hhas been organizing action to tackle the problem with its southern neighbors, most recently at a meeting in the city of Kunming, in China’s Yunnan southern border province.
Thai opposition lawmaker Rangsiman Rome told a security committee meeting that the evidence clearly showed that Thailand was “serving as a battery for call center gang networks.”
He also referred to a May 2024 cabinet resolution requesting provincial utility providers to cut cross-border electricity and internet services to combat drug trafficking and cybercrime.
But the PEA still supplies power to five locations in Myanmar including two in the Myawaddy township, opposite Mae Sot, which is home to the notorious Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone, operated by China’s Yatai International Holding Group and Myanmar’s Chit Linn Myaing Company, of the pro-junta militia force.
U.S. authorities have identified the area as a hub for criminal activity.
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