September 3, 2026
Due to the military junta’s sham crackdowns on Chinese cyber scam operations (Kyarr Phant) along the
Thai-Myanmar border in Karen State, combined with relocations to jungle areas and being trapped in crossfire between junta and KNLA allied forces, many Mon and Karen locals, as well as migrant workers, are leaving the scam centers. A growing number are either returning to their hometowns or fleeing into Thailand.
According to interviews with former cyber scam workers, since early 2025, many who left the massive scam centers have started forming their own independent groups. They use the internet to coordinate and run small-scale scam operations from their hometowns or from hiding spots in Thailand.
“Working for the Chinese in Kyarr Phant centers is safe if you have a good boss, but if the boss is bad, things go wrong, so people stop working there. Instead, friends who met while working in the centers are connecting and running their own independent scam groups from their hometowns. Some flee to Thailand to avoid forced conscription and continue scamming Myanmar citizens from there,” a former scam worker explained.
Additionally, favored Myanmar workers are reportedly being relocated by their Chinese bosses to new scam centers along the borders of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, or to certain towns inside Thailand.
“We just rent a room in Myawaddy. We don’t work for a boss anymore. We network with people who went back to Hpa-An, Mawlamyine, and Yangon, and we run the scams ourselves. We just need to stay in a ward with stable electricity and Wi-Fi. That’s the main requirement. Some people don’t do this and instead follow their bosses into the deep jungles to continue working. You just can’t stay in the massive Chinese run sites like before,” she said.
Previously, cyber scam operations operated like massive new cities in border areas such as Myawaddy, Shwe Kokko, Kyauk Khet, Mae Htaw Tha Lay, KK Park, and AA Park. As the operations expanded into vast transnational crime hubs, international pressure mounted, forcing the mega-centers to break apart and scatter. This dispersion has led to the current rise of small scale, decentralized scamming, according to local businesspeople familiar with the industry.
“In Myawaddy, the scam centers provided lucrative jobs for brokers offering short-term Chinese language and computer training, Chinese restaurant workers, delivery riders, construction crews building new sites, electricians, AC technicians, and cleaners. Now, those who move with the relocating scam centers are still doing fine, but those who didn’t are running small-scale operations. In Myawaddy, people are still secretly running scams from rented apartments and hotel rooms,” a local businessman noted.
Currently, under international pressure, the military junta is forcing Karen armed groups who provide land, security, and partnership for the Chinese scams to conduct sham crackdowns. As a result, the operators simply relocate their profitable illicit businesses deeper into the jungles or to remote villages in Mon and Karen states.
These transnational cyber scam syndicates, operating from armed group-controlled territories along the border, continue to illegally traffic foreign tech and scam experts, ruthlessly targeting victims worldwide.
