4/29/24, 2:31 PM China Forces Myanmar Scam Syndicates to Move to Thai Border | United States Institute of Peace in Karen The dozens of scam centers established in Karen State by Chinese-led crime networks have grown visibly along the Thai border since the compounds on the Chinese frontier shut down. However, Chinese government pressure on the junta’s entanglement with the Kokang scamming operations seems to have triggered a curious realignment of Karen armed groups, namely the Karen Border Guard Force led by General Secretary Maung Chit Thu. He is one of three key leaders of this BGF directly involved in hosting many Chinese scam centers. Under the authority of the Myanmar military since 2010, when the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) was pressed to come under military command as a BGF, the Karen BGF claimed in early 2024 to have severed ties with the Myanmar army. It declared neutrality in the country’s internal conflict and rebranded itself as the Karen National Army (KNA). Regardless, Chit Thu’s BGF/KNA has apparently maintained some level of involvement with the junta regime as evidenced by the leading role it played in delivering cross-border aid from Thailand in late March. The military’s weakening position also opened space for the Karen National Union’s (KNU) armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), to attack the military in Myawaddy in early April to liberate the township. By midApril, the KNLA had captured the military’s key base in Myawaddy, announcing plans on April 14 to install self-governance and border management. Although the KNA has not engaged directly in this conflict, it has failed to provide the critical logistical and tactical support to the military that is required by the BGF agreement, thereby constraining the junta’s ability to mount its standard bombing campaign and counter offensive. The KNA has also assisted the KNLA to a degree by accommodating IDPs and even taking over control of some military POWs captured by the KNLA and transferred over to the BGF in its compounds. But Chit Thu has remained focused on reinforcing his crime https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/04/china-forces-myanmar-scam-syndicates-move-thai-border 4/11