Myanmar border troops vow to root out fraud rings Thailand is expected to receive about 7,000 victims

Bangkok (Reuters) - Thailand and Myanmar are working together to crack down on telecom fraud rings, with the Karen Border Guard, which controls Myanmar's eastern Myawaddy state, vowing to root out about 10,000 fraudsters and save thousands of victims. Thailand, for its part, coordinated with Governments to arrange for the repatriation of victims.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Phongthang said Wednesday (February 12) that according to reports received by the Thai side, the head of the Karen State Border Guard Colonel Saw Chit Thu chaired a meeting on the same day to decide through Thailand to extradite the fraudsters back to China or their country of origin for trial.

The authorities are scheduled to hand over 500 fraudsters a day for 20 days across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge that connects Myawaddy to the Thai border town of Mae Sot. If the Thai side does not object, the operation will be implemented the next day.

He said Myanmar rescued 261 victims of human trafficking from the complex on Wednesday, most of them Thai nationals who had been tricked into working there. They were sent to the Thai border area to be sent back to their respective countries through their embassies in Thailand.

He said about 7,000 victims are expected to arrive in Thailand, including citizens of African, Latin American, European and Asian countries. Thai authorities have contacted embassies in Thailand, including Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, to arrange for the return of the victims.

The Karen State Border Guard, which is helping to crack down on electricity fraud, has also been caught up in allegations of fraud. Thailand's Special Investigation Bureau recently applied for the arrest of three Karen Border Guard generals, including Shochidu, on suspicion of human trafficking. They are alleged to have trafficked seven Indian nationals to an electricity fraud park in Myawaddy.

But Szochidu defended himself. According to Myanmar online media Irrawaddy, Shochidu said that the Karen Border Guard has "done a lot" to combat human trafficking, rescuing and repatriating many victims, but it has never received media attention. He is also disappointed that the Thai side intends to arrest him.

Chinese tenants transfer operations

Thailand earlier cut power, fuel supplies and Internet services to six areas along the Myanmar border, including the border town of Payathonzu, to crack down on the electricity fraud park. The area is home to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which last week asked local Chinese nationals running illegal businesses to leave by the end of February.

Local owners have reportedly terminated lease contracts with Chinese tenants, and the Chinese have moved out, taking communications equipment, electrical appliances and air conditioners with them. But residents of the town say they moved to another location about 10 kilometers away.

One owner of four buildings in the town said the Chinese lived there for more than a year at a monthly rent of up to 800,000 baht, with leases renewed every six months. They refurbished the house and converted it into offices and dormitories, and hired security guards to guard it 24 hours a day so that the owners could not enter.

The Chinese have bought or rented many local shops and run restaurants, barbershops and game centres, but are said to be fronts for electrical fraud. There used to be about 200 such shops in town, but almost all of them have closed.