20 Chinese citizens fleeing the notorious fraud ring Shwe Kokko in Myanmar crossed the Moei River into Mae Sot district, Tak province of Thailand on the morning of February 23 (local time) and were arrested for illegal entry.
Soldiers of the Ratchamanu Special Forces of the Thai army discovered a group of people wading across a river into Thai territory in Ban Wang Kaew 2 village, Mae Pa commune, Mae Sot district. After crossing the other side, they were stopped for inspection and search.
A spokesman for the special forces said that only 4 people had passports, the rest had no travel documents. All violated regulations due to illegal entry and illegal residence in Thailand.
Those arrested were then handed over to the Tak provincial immigration agency for handling according to the law.
Local officials said that border crossings along the Thailand - Myanmar border still take place, especially foreign citizens trying to escape online scams in Shwe Kokko, the area opposite Wang Kaew village in Mae Sot district.
Shwe Kokko - located in Myawaddy district near the Thai border in Kayin state of Myanmar - has become one of the largest and most notorious online fraud centers in the border region in Southeast Asia.
This is not only a legal business complex but in fact contains a series of cyber fraud, online gambling and phone and Internet scams targeting victims around the world.
International newspapers regularly report that many foreign citizens, mostly Chinese, have been attracted to these activities or seduced to work here in almost coercive conditions, making the Shwe Kokko area a "hot spot" for transnational cybercrime.
Under international pressure and from neighboring countries, the Myanmar government has urgently launched many large-scale campaigns to crack down on fraudulent activities in Shwe Kokko and surrounding areas in 2025.
In a campaign in November, the Myanmar military raided a series of scams, seizing more than 20,000 phones, more than 3,000 computers and arresting nearly 900 suspects who are foreign citizens, mainly accused of being involved in online scams.
This operation also caused major disruption in Shwe Kokko, causing many people operating in scam dens to panic and flee to Thai territory, crossing the border river.
