More than 600 people fled one of Myanmar’s most notorious scam centers and crossed into Thailand, a Thai provincial official said yesterday, after a military raid on the compound.
Sprawling compounds where Internet fraudsters target people with romance and business cons have thrived along Myanmar’s loosely governed border during its civil war, sparked by a 2021 coup.
A highly publicized crackdown starting in February saw about 7,000 workers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border Internet blockade.
Photo: AFP
However, an Agence France-Presse investigation this month revealed construction has continued apace at several compounds, while Starlink Internet service receivers have been installed en masse, seeming to connect the hubs to the Elon Musk-owned satellite network.
Tak Province Deputy Governor Sawanit Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya said that “677 people fled from the scam center,” known as KK Park, across the Moei River into Thailand as of yesterday morning.
Another crowd of more than 100 people gathered on the Myanmar side of the main local border crossing to Thailand early yesterday, many carrying large suitcases and backpacks.
Photo: AFP
A driver in the area, speaking anonymously for security reasons, estimated that 700 people had made illegal overnight crossings.
While some scam workers are clearly trafficked into often fortified compounds, experts say others go voluntarily with hopes of earning more in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry than they can at home.
Immigration police and the military had provided assistance “under humanitarian procedures,” Sawanit said.
Those who crossed “will undergo screening” to determine whether they have been victims of human trafficking or if they might be prosecuted for crossing the border illegally, he said.
The Tak Provincial Administrative Organization, which oversees the area, said in a statement that the group entering from Myanmar comprised “foreign nationals” — both men and women — and authorities expected more to cross into Thailand.
Indonesian state news agency Antara reported that about 20 Indonesians had “successfully crossed into Thai territory via the Moei River” as of Wednesday evening, the Indonesian embassy in Yangon said, citing Thai authorities.
Separately, Cambodian authorities arrested 57 South Koreans and 29 Chinese nationals for alleged involvement in transnational cyberscams, a government commission said yesterday, days after dozens accused of working in the illicit networks were repatriated.
Cambodia’s anti-cybercrime commission said in a statement that local authorities on Wednesday raided a building where scam operations were suspected in the capital, Phnom Penh, seizing 126 computers and 30 phones.
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