Thailand is set to issue arrest warrants for leaders of Myanmar’s Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) over charges of human trafficking, according to local media reports. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) will present evidence to prosecutors at the Anti-Human Trafficking Division on Tuesday, seeking arrest warrants for Colonel Saw Chit Thu, Lieutenant Colonel Mote Thone, and Major Tin Win. Thai media outlets, including Daily News, report that these individuals are accused of trafficking Indian nationals who were forced to work in a call center scam operating within Myawaddy Township, located near the Thai-Myanmar border in Karen State.
The Thai authorities successfully rescued the victims and are now targeting the key figures behind the trafficking operation. The Thai government also removed two senior police officials, Police Major General Ekkarat Intasuep and Pol Maj Gen Samrit Aemkamol, from their positions for their alleged connections to online gambling and scam operations in Myawaddy and their failure to control cross-border criminal activities.
Rangsiman Rome, an opposition MP from the People’s Party, revealed on Sunday that Saw Chit Thu’s BGF is a co-investor in Myawaddy’s notorious Shwe Kokko development, a hub for online scams. These scams have defrauded thousands of victims worldwide, with workers trafficked into forced labor at scam centers.
Saw Chit Thu founded the BGF in 2010, after a split from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), itself a faction of the Karen National Union (KNU). The BGF has been aligned with Myanmar’s military junta, particularly since the 2021 coup, and controls areas like Shwe Kokko, where illegal gambling and online fraud operations thrive. Despite announcing a split from the junta in early 2024, the BGF leadership remains closely tied to the regime.
Since the 2021 coup, online scam centers have proliferated in border regions, with many operations relocating to Myawaddy after facing pressure from anti-junta forces in northern Shan State. Saw Chit Thu, together with Chinese businessman She Zhijiang, runs Shwe Kokko, a hotspot for these illegal activities. She, a Chinese national with Cambodian citizenship, is wanted by China.
The BGF’s role in the illegal gambling and scam operations was exposed by the activist group Justice for Myanmar in May. Last month, the trafficking of a Chinese celebrity to Myawaddy made global headlines, intensifying international scrutiny. In response, Thailand cut electricity, internet, and fuel supplies to five Myanmar areas, including BGF-controlled territories, citing security risks posed by these call-center gangs.
The following day, the Myanmar junta and BGF handed over 61 victims from seven countries to Thai authorities. Thailand’s actions led to a raid on gambling and scam centers in Mongyai Township, Shan State, where 100 people were arrested, including foreign nationals. Meanwhile, the DKBA, another Karen armed group, reported rescuing over 100 foreign trafficking victims from scam centers in Karen State, planning to hand them over to Thai authorities. Some of these victims had reportedly been tortured.
