Indians among hundreds in Myanmar scam hub exodus

Thai media outlet Khaosod reported that 399 Indian nationals — the single largest group — were among those who crossed the border. However, this figure could not be independently verified

Dozens, possibly hundreds, of Indians were among more than 1,000 people who fled from Myanmar into Thailand this week after the country’s military raided one of Southeast Asia’s largest cybercrime compounds, according to news agencies and local reports.

The Indians were part of more than 1 people who crossed from Myanmar’s notorious KK Park scam compound into Thailand’s Mae Sot district between Wednesday and Friday. (APF)

Thai media outlet Khaosod reported that 399 Indian nationals — the single largest group — were among those who crossed the border. However, this figure could not be independently verified.

The ministry of external affairs did not respond to requests for comment.

The Indians were part of more than 1 people who crossed from Myanmar’s notorious KK Park scam compound into Thailand’s Mae Sot district between Wednesday and Friday, Thai provinical authorities confirmed to news agency AFP.

The exodus followed a raid announced Monday by Myanmar’s military junta on KK Park, a sprawling complex located just across the border from Thailand in Karen State.

Sprawling compounds like KK Park house thousands of workers who run sophisticated online scams, including “pig butchering” cons where fraudsters spend months building romantic or friendship relationships with victims before persuading them to invest in fake cryptocurrency platforms. While some scammers work voluntarily in the multibillion-dollar illicit industry, many are trafficking victims lured with false job promises and then held captive under armed guard, forced to defraud people worldwide or face physical abuse.

The operations have flourished along Myanmar’s borders during its civil war, protected by military-allied militias who profit from the criminal enterprises.

According to Khaosod, the nationalities of those who fled also included 147 Chinese, along with Vietnamese, Filipinos, Ethiopians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Nepalis, and 31 Thai nationals.

This is not the first time large numbers of Indians have been found trapped in Myanmar’s cyber scam compounds. In March, the external affairs ministry said India repatriated 549 citizens in two military aircraft flights after they were freed during a crackdown along the Myanmar-Thailand border. Those Indians, from states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, had been lured with false promises of IT sector jobs before being trafficked to centres mostly run by Chinese criminal gangs.

The ministry of external affairs has repeatedly issued advisories warning Indians about such job rackets in Southeast Asia.

Eyewitness accounts from KK Park described chaotic scenes as people fled. “I was sleeping when I heard loud knocking and people shouting at us in Chinese,” a Thai woman told public broadcaster Thai PBS. “They were carrying guns.”

Video footage showed people using foam boxes to float across the Moei River to Thailand, where Thai security personnel were waiting to search their luggage and documents.

Sawanit Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya, deputy governor of Tak province, told AFP that arrivals would be screened to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking. Otherwise, they could be prosecuted for illegal border crossing.

Thai authorities have established checkpoints along the border and are providing humanitarian assistance, including food, water, and medical supplies. Police Lieutenant General Choengron Rimpadee, spokesperson for Thailand’s Immigration Bureau, said officials were using mobile biometric identification systems to verify identities and check for criminal records.

Initial screening revealed that some individuals have criminal records flagged in international databases, according to Khaosod.

The raid comes amid mounting international pressure on Myanmar’s military to shut down scam operations. An AFP investigation revealed last week that the use of Starlink satellite internet devices — which allow compounds to bypass local infrastructure — had grown rapidly at scam centers in recent months.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which operates Starlink, said Wednesday it had disabled more than 2,500 devices at Myanmar’s scam centers. Myanmar state media reported that authorities seized Starlink terminals during the KK Park raid.

Token enforcement

However, experts say Myanmar’s military has long turned a blind eye to scam centres which profit its militia allies, crucial collaborators in their fight against rebel groups.

The junta has faced pressure to shut down scam operations from China, its military backer, which is irked at the number of Chinese citizens both participating in and being targeted by the scams.