Thailand was set to cut electricity, internet services and fuel supply to five areas of Myanmar on Wednesday morning as it attempts to cripple the call-center scam gangs that have become a threat to national security, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday night.
The decision came after a National Security Council meeting attended by Phumtham, who is also the defense minister, along with other senior officials who concluded that the security threat justified decisive action against the criminal gangs.
Three areas where the crime groups are known to operate are being targeted: Karen State’s Myawaddy, across from Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak province, and Payathonzu, opposite Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi; and Shan State’s Tachileik, opposite Mae Sai district in Thailand’s Chiang Rai.Starting from 9 a.m. Wednesday, Phumtham said, services will be cut off to Myanmar-based power distributors at five connection points:
- Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Myawaddy
- Ban Huay Muang in Myawaddy
- Three Pagodas in Payathonzu
- Ban Mueang Daeng in Tachileik
- First Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Tachileik.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked with informing the Myanmar government and notifying hospitals and communities that could be affected to make preparations.
It was not immediately clear how many electricity customers who have no connection to illegal activities will be affected, and what steps they could take.
Local media quoted Phumtham as saying that the issue had been discussed with Myanmar authorities, who understood that the activities of the crime groups were an international problem, not just Thailand’s.
Earlier on Tuesday, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra approved an immediate end to the provision of fuel and electricity to sites linked to the gangs operating in Myanmar.
She said that where there was clear evidence that scammers were benefitting from power and fuel provided from Thailand, the supply could be cut off right away.
Many communities in Myanmar near the Thai border also rely on Thailand for fuel and electricity.
“We must take care of our people first,” the prime minister said.
The activities of the scam gangs have had a huge impact on Thai people and on the national image, she added.
“This requires serious measures … which can be imposed at once. … This is a serious matter … which really concerns every country.”
Paetongtarn on Wednesday will begin a four-day official visit to China, where she is expected to meet President Xi Jinping to discuss cyber fraud scams in Thailand’s neighboring countries, as well as trade cooperation and other issues.
The prime minister will also ask Xi to help reassure Chinese tourists that it is safe to travel to Thailand, amid concerns that some travelers were canceling trips after a viral report about the trafficking of a Chinese actor to Myanmar via Thailand last month.
Chinese fugitives
Across Southeast Asia, the multi-billion-dollar cyber scam operations have been expanding, particularly in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Most of the operators — as well as most of their victims — are Chinese.
Often run by Chinese fugitives who fled their home country in 2020 following a domestic crackdown, the scam businesses have taken cover in areas of Myanmar where the military regime is losing control over territories to rebels.
The notorious Shwe Kokko and KK Park complexes in Myawaddy operate under the protection of Karen militias that have broken away from the Karen National Liberation Army, which is a bitter foe of the scam gangs.
Phumtham said earlier that supply contracts allowed the Provincial Electricity Authority to either reduce or disconnect services to gang-linked areas in the interests of national security.
“From June 2022 to June 2024, more than 500,000 Thai people fell victim [to scam gangs] and lost over 60 billion baht,” he said. “I think that a gradual decrease in the power supply would be too slow, because the problem is already severe.”
Myanmar’s state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, in a rare article on scam centers last month, said basic essentials, including power and internet, are not provided by Myanmar but by other countries, in a veiled reference to Thailand.
It said “foreign organizations” were investing in this infrastructure.
Myanmar’s military government since October 2023 has repatriated more than 55,000 foreigners, overwhelmingly Chinese, who were forced to work in scam compounds, the newspaper said.
This story first appeared in The Bangkok Post.
