Portable internet helps Asia scam centres bypass blackouts

FILE PHOTO: Victims of scam centres who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar, stuck in limbo at a compound inside the KK Park, a fraud factory, and a human trafficking hub on the border with Thailand-Myanmar after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, operated by the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) in Myawaddy, Myanmar, February 26, 2025. - Reuters

BANGKOK: In February, Thai and Myanmar authorities worked together to turn off electricity and the internet in an unprecedented operation to free thousands of trafficking victims forced to work in cyber-scam centres in Myanmar.

It succeeded, and some 7,000 people from 29 countries were released.