After a crackdown on fraud operations in Laukkai in northern Shan State in early 2024, many Chinese scam syndicates relocated to Myawaddy and Payathonzu in Karen State near the Thai border.
The online scam hub of Shwe Kokko in Myawaddy made international headlines after a Chinese soap actor was trafficked there from Thailand in January.
China promptly announced “Operation Seagull”—a joint crackdown with five members of ASEAN on Jan. 20, and the Chinese assistant public security minister visited the area in late January.
Thailand
Thailand received 6.2 million Chinese tourists in 2024, and the Thai government fears that human trafficking by Chinese scam syndicates through its borders will discourage Chinese holidaymakers.
Thailand pursues a flexible diplomatic policy in dealing with major countries like China and the U.S. As it aims to deepen economic ties with China, it has started cooperating in the crackdown on scam operations in Myawaddy.
Amid an outcry on Chinese social media, Thailand cut off electricity supply worth an estimated 800 million baht a year as well as internet and fuel to five border locations including Myawaddy on Feb. 5.
A day later, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra embarked on an official visit to China and met Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials to reassure them. The 14 memoranda of understanding she signed there included the second phase of the China-Thailand High-Speed Railway (HSR), a flagship infrastructure project under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The Thai government started to target government officials with ties to scam syndicates in Myawaddy. Two senior police officers including the police chief of Tak Province bordering Myawaddy were suspended.
On Feb 11, the Thai defense minister vowed to remove government officials involved in fraudulent activities from the border areas.
Thai authorities also applied for arrest warrants for the three leaders of the junta-aligned Karen Border Guard Force (BGF)—Saw Chit Thu, Saw Mote Thone and Saw Tin Win—for their involvement in scam operations in Myawaddy based on evidence collected by the Department of Special Investigation.
Thai prosecutors said more evidence is needed to issue the arrest warrants, giving rise to speculation whether this reluctance is caused by fears that the investigation of Saw Chit Thu would expose senior Thai officials as his accomplices.
On Feb. 12, the Thai government took a further step, banning the export to Karen State of goods that can be used for scamming, including mobile phones, batteries, inverters, generators, solar panels, mobile devices, cables, and engine oil.
Junta and Karen BGF
The scam hubs of Shwe Kokko and KK Park in Myawaddy are primarily operated by the junta-aligned Karen BGF, though others are based in areas controlled by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army–Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), both of which are signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.
There are allegations that some KNU leaders are involved in KK Park, and there are frictions within the KNU about this issue.
The main responsibility lies with the Myanmar military. In January 2023, Min Aung Hlaing personally awarded the honorary title of “Thiripyanchi” to Saw Chit Thu, as he had done to his allied Kokang warlords.
There are widespread reports that the income from Shwe Kokko is shared with the military. Saw Chit Thu regularly visits Naypyitaw, meeting separately with Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy and frequently enjoying himself at Boss KTV in the capital. The regime tightens security whenever military leaders and Saw Chit Thu are at the KTV, according to sources.
Karen BGF and DKBA leaders are trying to portray the problem as purely a question of human trafficking, saying they would repatriate the victims. However, the main issue is online fraud through social networks, and most of the Chinese citizens in Myawaddy came there voluntarily; only a few are trafficked victims.
Photos and videos of online fraud activities in Shwe Kokko are widely circulated on social media and TikTok, and it appears that Chinese police officers worked undercover there.
Saw Chit Thu claims he did not bring in the Chinese syndicates, implying that they came from Thailand. But it is indisputable that he brought in She Zhijiang, the godfather of the online scam hubs. A Chinese national with Cambodian citizenship, She Zhijiang is wanted by China and is currently in jail in Bangkok.
After the DKBA handed over 260 trafficking victims to Thailand from Kyauk Khet, Saw Chit Thu pledged to repatriate 10,000 Chinese nationals to China. Under pressure from China and Thailand, BGF leaders held a meeting on Feb. 12 to form four special squads to crack down on scam gangs. They claimed they would repatriate 500 people per day in coordination with the Thai government starting from February 14.
As the drama unfolded, the regime also arrested some scam gang members in Tangyan, Shan State and handed them over to China but made no mention of Shwe Kokko and Saw Chit Thu’s repatriation plan.
The challenge for the regime is that although the Karen BGF is officially under the command of the Myanmar military, it has little influence over it.
To make matters worse, the KNU and People’s Defense Forces have captured Thingan Nyinaung operational command base and three battalions as well as hills near Myawaddy, effectively encircling the town. Junta units and administrative mechanisms in Myawaddy town have survived thanks to protection from Saw Chit Thu’s Karen BGF, but without it they will fall.
The Karen BGF has at least 8,000 troops including 2,000-3,000 in Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko. The regime is not in a position to confront them. It would lose Myawaddy if it came into conflict with Saw Chit Thu.
All the regime can do is admit to China and Thailand that it does not have control over Myawaddy. It may well be nervous that its murky dealings with Saw Chit Thu would he and the other BGF leaders are arrested.
Yet the scam problem cannot be resolved unless action is taken against Saw Chit Thu and the Karen BGF.
An estimated 100,000 people are involved in scam operations in Myawaddy alone. China wants to root out the compounds, but its stance on the Myanmar junta is inconsistent. It will be interesting to see whether China will insist on completely eliminating the fraud syndicates at the Myawaddy border or if it will be satisfied by a partial crackdown.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has so far only told state and regional chief ministers to take action against scam syndicates in their respective areas, but no concrete action has been seen.
Even after the Thai government suspended the two senior police officers, the regime remained silent and took no action against military and civilian officials in Myawaddy.
China, having witnessed the involvement of senior military and civilian administration officials in scam hubs in Laukkai near its border, will find it hard to believe that military and civilian officials are not involved.
Chinese Assistant Public Security Minister Liu Zgongyi arrived in Naypyitaw on Feb. 14 and held talks with the junta’s home affairs minister. He then flew back to Mae Sot, from where he crossed the border to Myawaddy to observe the verification of rescued victims and the repatriation process.
Previously, the Karen BGF wanted to transfer the victims directly to the Thai military but—apparently under pressure from China—now it is the junta that take the responsibility for handing them over.
It will be interesting to see how China will view a regime that has done almost nothing to address online fraud, while Beijing, which has been actively supporting the regime since the fall of Northeastern Command in northern Shan State, has been calling for a decisive scam crackdown.
The Myanmar junta has lost most of its land borders already. Will China force it to take decisive action against Saw Chit Thu, even if doing so could mean that the junta loses control of Myawaddy as well?
(Thet Htar Maung is a Myanmar affairs analyst)
