Tatmadaw cracks down on scam centers, triggering flight of thousands of scammers across the border
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Htet Nadi (NP News) - Oct 26
The government announced on October 20 that the Tatmadaw had managed to conduct a clearance operation at KK Park, a site notorious for online scam activities disguised as legitimate businesses. However, some have criticized the operation, arguing that it was merely a show of force rather than a genuine crackdown.
However, in reality, reports on social media as well as coverage by international media indicate that employees and managers of the online scam businesses along the Myawaddy border have been fleeing and going into hiding.
The Tatmadaw has reportedly recaptured the Shukhin Thar and Sue Taw Kone camps in the Lay Kay Kaw area and is continuing to clear the border to prevent illegal activities on October 19.
It has been reported that since late 2023, violent actors including the KNLA and PDF-affiliated armed groups have been driving out indigenous residents and illegally occupying areas in the new town of Lay Kay Kaw, where local indigenous communities had been living after avoiding previous armed clashes.
During the attacks and seizures of these areas, the Tatmadaw also conducted simultaneous clearance operations at KK Park — a site near the Myanmar-Thailand border notorious for online fraud.
The seizure of 30 Star Link internet access satellites and related items was reported without any unusual incidents at KK Park, and 2,198 people were found. The government statement included photographic evidence of the seized items.
Following such a statement, the government’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun also responded to media inquiries on October 21 that KNU leaders were involved in the KK Park project and that the KNU was benefiting from providing security for the KK Park project.
In this regard, anti-government groups including NUG have criticized the photos, saying that they were systematically and deliberately filmed, and that they were merely showing off while the international community is increasingly interested in the issue of online scam.
However, after the Tatmadaw announced that it had launched a raid and started a clean-up operation, social media showed that staff and managers working at the online scam center were fleeing across the border.
According to a CNA report, Thai authorities stated on October 24 that over 1,000 people, mostly Chinese, have fled from Myanmar into Thailand this week following Tatmadaw raids on scam centers.
Thailand’s Tak provincial office reported that from Wednesday to Friday morning, 1,049 people crossed into Mae Sot district from Myanmar, up from 677 who had fled the KK Park scam compound as of Thursday morning.
The office added in a statement that the group included nationals from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and more than a dozen other countries.
Therefore, the Tatmadaw’s clearance operations along the border have proven to be genuine rather than merely for show, creating a situation that has significantly tightened control over those engaged in illegal activities.