Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting with Thai lieutenant general Jakkapong Janpengpen in Naypyidaw. - AFP
YANGON: Myanmar authorities will crack down on online scam operations along the border with Thailand following talks on military cooperation between the two countries, state media said on Thursday (Dec 28).
Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar's lawless borderlands and are staffed by citizens from China and other countries who are often trafficked and forced to work swindling their compatriots.
In recent weeks the junta has said it has arrested scam ringleaders from a militia-run enclave on the border with China and deported thousands of Chinese nationals in a crackdown on the multi-billion-dollar industry.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and Lieutenant General Jakkapong Janpengpen of Thailand's armed forces discussed cooperation between their militaries at a meeting on Wednesday, state media said.
"They also discussed plans to jointly eradicate online gambling and online scams near Myawaddy" on the Myanmar-Thai border, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
Myawaddy town is controled by a military-aligned militia and analysts and media reports say the surrounding area is a hotbed of drug production and online scam outfits.
AFP has contacted the Thai military for comment on the meeting.
Earlier this year the UN human rights office said at least 120,000 people were being held in scam compounds in Myanmar.
Many were housed in the town of Laukkai in northern Shan state, now the target of an offensive against the military by an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups.
Fighting has raged around the town for weeks and thousands of its inhabitants have fled.
Hundreds of Thai and Vietnamese citizens working in scam compound in Laukkai have been evacuated in recent weeks. - AFP
