4/29/24, 2:31 PM China Forces Myanmar Scam Syndicates to Move to Thai Border | United States Institute of Peace Dongmei Zone, which has avoided the international attention drawn to Chit Thu’s compounds. Mote Thun is also said to be involved in the KK Park Project. The DKBA, with Sai Kyaw Hla as the key perpetrator The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army was formed by elements of Chit Thu’s militia that refused to accept the BGF agreement in 2010, and which later became a signatory to the national cease-fire accord. Sai Kyaw Hla is from northern Shan State, where he has a prior criminal record. He relocated to the Karen area, after which he emerged as a DKBA leader and brigadier general by the mid-2010s. In 2020, he initiated the Taichang Zone (aka Ko Sai Casino or Kyauk Khat Casino) in partnership with a Chinese mafia group, the TransAsia International Company, that relocated from Sihanoukville to Maesot in 2020. This zone, located along the Moei River next to Wat Chong Khaep on the Thai side of the border began to expand rapidly in early 2023, becoming a magnet for Chinese crime syndicates in late 2023 when the Kokang centers were effectively closed. A second DKBA zone is located even further south at Waw Lay, and is the newest and least understood of the criminal enclaves. The DKBA remains largely neutral vis-à-vis the Myanmar army and anti-junta resistance groups, such as the KNU. Individuals associated with the KNLA, especially its Brigade 7: Roger Khin Roger Khin, from the KNU Defense Department and a senior officer in KNLA Brigade 7, is the key individual involved in Huanya project, which is yet another notorious scam hub. KNU sources indicate that this project also involves Tin Win from the BGF. Roger Khin is also said to be involved in the KK Park project, but no evidence of this has been produced yet. Roger Khin partners primarily with the Chinese mafia group controlling the TransAsia International Company, which partners with the DKBA. Despite this, of all of the various armed groups in the area, the KNU is the most resilient against involvement in this criminal activity; it maintains a no-tolerance policy with respect to casinos, drugs and other illicit activities. In this rapidly evolving situation, three key points stand out: 1. Unlike its defeat on the Chinese border, where China’s influence over local forces allowed Chinese law enforcement greater access, the Myanmar military’s collapse in Karen State has not affected the scam centers significantly because https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/04/china-forces-myanmar-scam-syndicates-move-thai-border 6/11