Thailand’s power and fuel cuts hurting ordinary Myanmar residents

Thailand’s move to cut off electricity, fuel and internet service to an area across the border in Myanmar rife with scam centers is hurting ordinary people more than the crime syndicates it was trying target, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The shutoff of the grid since Feb. 4 has resulted in many turning to electric generators, and that’s doubled the price of gas in Myawaddy in just five weeks.

Described by some as it’s “most decisive action ever,” Bangkok said the move was aimed at closing down the scamming operations, where hundreds of trafficked workers have been trapped and often tortured. Thailand also banned the export of 12 items, including mobile phones and electrical appliances, to Myanmar.

But the criminal organizations are finding their way around the blockade, including often illegal ways to acquire the fuel needed to power their generators and continue their operations, residents told RFA Burmese.

Instead of its intended targets, the shutdown is taking a much larger toll on residents in the area, which is controlled by the Karen Border Guard Force and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

“Ordinary people are suffering the most from the Thai government’s fuel cuts,” said a Myawaddy resident who used the pseudonym Thura for fear of reprisals. “Meanwhile, scam call center gangs continue to receive fuel supplies with the help” of region rebel groups.

Fuel is hard to buy because demand is high and supply is low. Gas has nearly doubled to 7,000 kyats per liter ($12.64 per gallon), Thura said.

In Myawaddy, across from the Thai town of Mae Sot, gas stations are all closed, and residents instead have to buy fuel from residents on the Thai side of the border.

The criminal gangs, by relying on their connections with these local armed groups, can get what they need without much difficulty.

“In contrast, ordinary people are struggling due to fuel shortages caused by illegal traders.”

Attempts by RFA to contact the Karen Border Guard Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Nai Maung Zaw and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army DKBA chief of staff General Saw San Aung, on March 10, for comment on these situations went unanswered.

Illegal trade routes

Kyaw Naing, a Myawaddy merchant who used a pseudonym for security reasons, told RFA that despite the Thai government’s bans on 12 types of products — which also include batteries, inverters and generators — are still being smuggled in.

“Fuel is filled in cars from Mae Sot to be sold in Myawaddy,” Kyaw Naing said. “Buying fuel can be somewhat challenging, but it is still possible since the border routes are not completely closed all the time.”

The banned Thai items can also be imported instead from China, to the point that the ban is almost ineffective, he said, adding that the Thai government should reopen the fuel market considering it is a basic need for the people.

RFA attempted to contact Thin Thin Myat, chairman of the Myawaddy Border Trade Chamber of Commerce for comment, but she did not respond.

With people buying fuel in Thailand to sell in Myanmar, sellers in Mae Sai, far to the north of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border crossing are now requiring that buyers fill up only the gas tanks of their vehicles, not portable containers.

Workers repatriated

Meanwhile, the Karen Border Guard Force on Tuesday handed nearly 250 Indian and Malaysian workers who had been trafficked and held in Chinese gambling dens and scam centers in Myawaddy to authorities from their respective countries via the Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge.

Among those freed were 226 Indian nationals and 24 Malaysians. “Plans are in place to repatriate more foreign nationals in the coming days,” a spokesperson for the Border Guard Force told RFA.

Between Monday and Tuesday, 509 Indian nationals had been sent over the bridge to Indian authorities working alongside their Thai counterparts.

The Karen Border Guard Force claims to have been conducting anti-scam and anti-human trafficking operations for nearly a month.

According to a source at their Investigation Office, around 3,000 scam workers from China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia have been repatriated via Thailand.

Translated by Aung Naing and Thane Aung. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.