Around 700 trafficked workers, including several Indians, have fled Myanmar’s notorious Chinese mafia-run KK Park compound after the Burmese junta launched a raid on the site this week. The dramatic escape unfolded as hundreds of workers risked their lives by swimming across the Moei River into Thailand, with some tragically drowning in the attempt. Thai authorities later confirmed that nearly 700 individuals had been detained upon crossing the border, while hundreds more remained trapped or in hiding in Myanmar’s Myawaddy region — an area widely dubbed the “global capital of scams.”
The raid, which took place in the Myawaddy region on Wednesday night, was part of an operation by Myanmar’s military junta, reportedly targeting criminal syndicates operating scam centres across the border zone. The junta claimed to have seized 30 Starlink satellite receivers and other communications equipment but reported “no evidence of criminal activity,” a statement that has been met with skepticism from rights groups and observers. Burmese media outlet The Irrawaddy described the operation as a “staged show” conducted in coordination with the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) — a local militia aligned with the junta and believed to protect KK Park’s operations.
Meanwhile, SpaceX confirmed that it had cut internet service to over 2,500 Starlink devices used by scam centres in Myanmar. An executive told AFP that the illicit industry’s use of Starlink had “exploded,” with cybercrime hubs relying on the satellite network to maintain encrypted communications. The junta’s seizure of just 30 devices underscores the scale of the ongoing criminal activity that continues largely unchecked.
KK Park, located in Myanmar’s eastern Myawaddy region, is a sprawling complex along the Moei River across from Thailand’s Tak province. It is one of the most infamous cybercrime hubs in Southeast Asia, run primarily by Chinese criminal gangs with protection from local armed groups. The compound houses thousands of trafficked workers from across Asia, including India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China. Victims are often lured by fake job offers — typically in IT or marketing — only to be sold into forced labour where they are coerced into operating online scams targeting victims worldwide.
Refugee support groups estimate that about 2,000 people fled KK Park during the junta’s raid, with Thai authorities preparing reception camps on their side of the border. Among the escapees were at least eight Indian nationals who lost their way after fleeing but were later rescued and placed in temporary shelters before being processed for legal entry into Thailand. However, hundreds of other Indians remain unaccounted for, still hiding within Myanmar or in the dense forests along the border.
Justice for Myanmar (JFM), an activist watchdog, described KK Park as part of a larger “transnational crime network” that includes Chinese mafia groups, Myanmar’s junta, and the Karen Border Guard Force. The group said that profits from these scam hubs fund human trafficking, smuggling, and the junta’s ongoing military operations. “The junta is both protector and beneficiary of these cybercrime zones,” JFM said, calling the regime a “root cause of instability and the regional refugee crisis.”
The problem extends far beyond KK Park. Following Myanmar’s 2021 military coup and the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber scam compounds have proliferated along the border areas of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The United Nations estimates that at least 100,000 people are currently trapped in such centres across Myanmar alone. These facilities, often protected by local militias and well-connected businessmen, have generated billions of dollars in fraudulent schemes, including cryptocurrency fraud, investment scams, and romance traps targeting victims in the U.S., Europe, and China.
Despite sporadic rescue operations and international pressure, dismantling these criminal hubs remains a daunting challenge. The remote geography of the borderlands, combined with corruption, weak governance, and entrenched military control, has made law enforcement efforts almost impossible. The latest junta raid — which many believe was orchestrated for propaganda — has once again highlighted the deep nexus between Myanmar’s military authorities and Chinese criminal networks operating scam industries on a global scale.
For India, the crisis represents both a humanitarian and diplomatic concern. Hundreds of Indians remain trapped or missing in Myanmar’s scam compounds, with many reportedly tortured or held under armed guard. Recent rescue operations managed to bring back 500 Indian citizens earlier this year, but experts warn that the true number of trafficked Indians still in captivity could be much higher.
The exodus from KK Park is a stark reminder of the human cost behind Southeast Asia’s booming cybercrime underworld — a dark network fuelled by deception, trafficking, and the exploitation of economic desperation. While Myanmar’s junta claims to be cracking down on these operations, the evidence suggests that the criminal enterprise remains alive and thriving — sustained by complicity at the highest levels of power.
