> An airlift carrying more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar began Thursday.. Thailand, China and Myanmar have coordinated efforts over the past month to shut down the scam centers that bilked victims around the world out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Thai officials said recently that as many as 10,000 people may be repatriated from Myanmar.. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on a visit to Beijing earlier this month told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Thailand would crack down on the scam networks. Just ahead of her visit, Thailand cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar.. An earlier crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar happened in late 2023.. Ethnic guerrilla groups with close ties to Beijing shut down many operations
On January 3, 2025, Wang Xing (stage name "Xingxing"), a Chinese actor, was deceived into a scam center in Myanmar by a fraud group under the pretext of "going to Thailand for filming work". After Wang Xing lost contact, his girlfriend Jiajia posted a message for help through social media and actively contacted relevant authorities. This incident attracted the attention of the Chinese film industry. Many actors posted about this matter, prompting the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai and the Thai police to intervene in the investigation and search and rescue.
I wonder if things deteriorate into a failed state China will intervene. They did that in the 1970s with Cambodia.
But who knows America and India will probably go ape shit.
Deteriorate? Myanmar has been a failed state for 60 years. To give you an idea of what I mean, their current and previous dictators consult witch doctors for their decisions, and the largest city of 5 million doesn’t have continuous electricity.
One of the many ongoing wars in Myanmar, The Karen conflict, is one of the longest-running armed conflicts in the world. Myanmar has been a total mess since end of WWII.
Myanmar is basically a Southeast Asian version of Congo. All the neighboring countries (China, India, Thailand) have already de facto intervened. And each country is maintaining relations with regional warlords, as well as "their" guys in the Tatmadaw.
For example, China and the MDNAA [0] and the Wa State [1], and their "Goma" is Muse and Mongla
India and the ethnic Chin opposition [2][3] and the Arakan Army [4], and their "Goma" is Tamu and Sittwe.
Thailand's Military Government's continued support of the Myanmar Tatmadaw [5], and their "Goma" is Myawaddy, Payathonzhu, and Mawdaung.
I'd bet any money that while China might not go in overtly, they'd be the main silent-backers of Thai forces that could go in overtly with fewer objections from abroad. (Or, maybe it'd be more accurate to say that, the Thais wouldn't care as much about the objections from abroad as the Chinese would?)
It could even be that everyone is misjudging the asians entirely? And it's bad enough that at even the slightest provocation from the warlords, we'll see Thai and Chinese troops flood in. Consequences be damned. This would be the worst outcome for the rest of the world, but probably the best outcome for the people currently being terrorized and held hostage by these thugs. I just hope it doesn't get to that point.
Good luck to the people being held prisoner in these hubs. Hopefully they can escape the abuse and violence, and not just be trafficked to another hub.
Old news, they turned on diesel generators and Starlink and shifted around.
They obviously would have taken a hit and Thailand has already shut down cell towers on the Cambodia border near Poi Pet where they moved some operations.
They should have been reading HN and how solar is cheaper than anything else, silly criminals doing real world stuff.
Tbh I feel like the people didn't care much about it because the people who got kidnapped there were mostly attracted by job offers that were known to be shady (quick money), so there wasn't much discussion around this. The actor getting kidnapped is different: People suddenly found that you can be kidnapped even when the offer seems legit and only staying in Thailand. This forced the government (both China and Thailand) to take action to address the concerns.
But I think this will come back again. This kidnapping thing is not new, and it caught media attention a few years ago as well, they just go silent for a period of time and continue their operation later.
Who would have guessed - that this is what the singularity boiled down to- AI scaming and hacking humans - which thus regresses into tribal factions. What a letdown!
That happened 17 days ago (24 points, 5 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42962545
Feb 20, https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-online-scam-centers-myawa...
> An airlift carrying more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar began Thursday.. Thailand, China and Myanmar have coordinated efforts over the past month to shut down the scam centers that bilked victims around the world out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Thai officials said recently that as many as 10,000 people may be repatriated from Myanmar.. Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on a visit to Beijing earlier this month told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Thailand would crack down on the scam networks. Just ahead of her visit, Thailand cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar.. An earlier crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar happened in late 2023.. Ethnic guerrilla groups with close ties to Beijing shut down many operations
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43149372
> This all happened because they kidnapped a Chinese actor, maybe fake casting call ads are not the wisest idea - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Wang_Xing
Icarus always flies too close to the sun.
I wonder if things deteriorate into a failed state China will intervene. They did that in the 1970s with Cambodia. But who knows America and India will probably go ape shit.
Deteriorate? Myanmar has been a failed state for 60 years. To give you an idea of what I mean, their current and previous dictators consult witch doctors for their decisions, and the largest city of 5 million doesn’t have continuous electricity. One of the many ongoing wars in Myanmar, The Karen conflict, is one of the longest-running armed conflicts in the world. Myanmar has been a total mess since end of WWII.
Myanmar is basically a Southeast Asian version of Congo. All the neighboring countries (China, India, Thailand) have already de facto intervened. And each country is maintaining relations with regional warlords, as well as "their" guys in the Tatmadaw.
For example, China and the MDNAA [0] and the Wa State [1], and their "Goma" is Muse and Mongla
India and the ethnic Chin opposition [2][3] and the Arakan Army [4], and their "Goma" is Tamu and Sittwe.
Thailand's Military Government's continued support of the Myanmar Tatmadaw [5], and their "Goma" is Myawaddy, Payathonzhu, and Mawdaung.
[0] - https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/08/myanmars-junta-los...
[1] - https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-issues/wa-state-aims-t...
[2] - https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/chinland-council-and-chin-...
[3] - https://theprint.in/india/chin-rebel-leader-lauds-indias-hel...
[4] - https://thediplomat.com/2024/03/is-india-finally-waking-up-t...
[5] - https://r2pasiapacific.org/files/8231/2022_Thai_response_mya...
> They did that in the 1970s with Cambodia.
You mean the Third Indochina War? It wasn't really about Cambodia being a failed state but a far consequence of a Sino-Soviet split.
I'd bet any money that while China might not go in overtly, they'd be the main silent-backers of Thai forces that could go in overtly with fewer objections from abroad. (Or, maybe it'd be more accurate to say that, the Thais wouldn't care as much about the objections from abroad as the Chinese would?)
It could even be that everyone is misjudging the asians entirely? And it's bad enough that at even the slightest provocation from the warlords, we'll see Thai and Chinese troops flood in. Consequences be damned. This would be the worst outcome for the rest of the world, but probably the best outcome for the people currently being terrorized and held hostage by these thugs. I just hope it doesn't get to that point.
Thailand is not invading Myanmar for China, they are pretty conservative when it comes to such politics.
> the Thais wouldn't care as much about the objections from abroad as the Chinese
That is absolutely not how Thailand works. If Thailand does anything, it’ll be exclusively on the Thai side of the border.
If China does anything it will be in support of the Tatmadaw, either overtly or covertly.
Good luck to the people being held prisoner in these hubs. Hopefully they can escape the abuse and violence, and not just be trafficked to another hub.
What a horrible fate to be abducted to one of these hellholes.
[dead]
Old news, they turned on diesel generators and Starlink and shifted around.
They obviously would have taken a hit and Thailand has already shut down cell towers on the Cambodia border near Poi Pet where they moved some operations.
They should have been reading HN and how solar is cheaper than anything else, silly criminals doing real world stuff.
This all happened because they kidnapped a Chinese actor, maybe fake casting call ads are not the wisest idea - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Wang_Xing
Tbh I feel like the people didn't care much about it because the people who got kidnapped there were mostly attracted by job offers that were known to be shady (quick money), so there wasn't much discussion around this. The actor getting kidnapped is different: People suddenly found that you can be kidnapped even when the offer seems legit and only staying in Thailand. This forced the government (both China and Thailand) to take action to address the concerns.
But I think this will come back again. This kidnapping thing is not new, and it caught media attention a few years ago as well, they just go silent for a period of time and continue their operation later.
Who would have guessed - that this is what the singularity boiled down to- AI scaming and hacking humans - which thus regresses into tribal factions. What a letdown!
Gut Ding will Kurzweil haben.