Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Crackdown theatre masks border graft
News, Paskorn Jumlongrach, Published on 06/12/2025
» The thunderous explosion that sent a 12-storey building crashing to the ground in the border backwater of Shwe Kokko at midday on Wednesday sounded like a major accident, if not an earthquake.
Scam victims are still stranded
Editorial, Published on 16/03/2025
» Social attention on the scam city in Myawaddy may fizzle out. Thousands of human trafficking victims lured into scam operations across the Thai borders may have returned home, but many more remain trapped -- inside and outside scam centres -- waiting for help. Meanwhile, human traffickers operate with impunity. This cannot continue.
Be wary of Border Guard Force pledges
Oped, Editorial, Published on 18/02/2025
» After Thailand moved to cut electricity supply and internet access to several areas along the Myanmar border to curb the activities of Chinese scam syndicates in Myawaddy township, the Border Guard Force (BGF) -- an ethnic Karen militia allied with the Myanmar junta, led by Colonel Saw Chit Thu -- finally agreed to take action.
Scammers face losing their protection
Oped, Paskorn Jumlongrach, Published on 30/01/2025
» With mounting pressure from Bangkok and Beijing, it is becoming more difficult for Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) chief Maj Gen Saw Chit Thu to protect the grey business empire along the Moei river in Myawaddy and also to lead the force.
Cry for help from Moei River 'scam city'
News, Paskorn Jumlongrach, Published on 10/01/2025
» 'Do you think I can get out of here?" the question induced sudden dead air as no one could answer it. But for people familiar with the stories of a city of scammers located in a border town in Myanmar, it is not difficult to feel the gravity of terror inflicted on the woman who raised such a question.
Mae Sot's sour trafficking record
Editorial, Published on 24/11/2024
» Mae Sot, a town on the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak province, is notorious as a hub for cross-border human trafficking and transnational organised crime run by Chinese mafia syndicates. Despite this, government action has been grossly inadequate to combat the problem.
Asean and Myanmar: The next moves
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 07/02/2023
» Last week, the new Asean chair, Indonesia, convened the first two important meetings -- the Asean Coordinating Council and Asean Foreign Ministers' Retreat -- to discuss and follow up on ongoing and emerging issues that have to do with the relevancy of Asean and its centrality.