'Do you think I can get out of here?" the question induced sudden dead air as no one could answer it. But for people familiar with the stories of a city of scammers located in a border town in Myanmar, it is not difficult to feel the gravity of terror inflicted on the woman who raised such a question.
Late last year, I had a private conversation with a Lao woman -- given the pseudonym Buakam -- who was forced to work as a scammer in Shwekokko in Myawaddy. As a journalist, I have followed the scammers and call centres in Myawaddy, a border town that is just a stone's throw from Mae Sot district. I have also interviewed some of the victims of these call centres online.
Since last year, Buakam and 18 of her compatriots have tried to send information to her government and the Thai government to rescue them from the call centre office by the Moei River, Myawaddy province, Myanmar, opposite Tak's Phop Phra and Mae Sot districts. They also contacted their embassy in Laos using an online platform. There was no encouraging response except for, "This area is inaccessible by the Myanmar government". This made them feel hopeless. For those who are new to local politics in Myanmar, the western Thai-Myanmar border is no longer under the control of the central government.
Buakam told me that the call centre is also staffed by people from as far away as Kenya and Morocco, as well as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in South Asia, and, of course, Thais.
According to numbers that have been officially confirmed by the Civil Society Network for Victim Assistance in Human Trafficking and the Thai government, there are now at least 300 foreigners held in captivity in Myanmar.
But the true figures may be much higher.
New Wild Wild West
Understanding the breadth and depth of this "scammer city" requires some basic knowledge about the armed ethnic groups that populate the western border separating Thailand from Myanmar.
The criminal hub by the Moei River in Myawaddy is under the control of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).
This area is a real Wild Wild West. Both are sub-ethnic groups on the western border of Thailand. There has been a long battle between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), under the Karen National Union (KNU), and the Myanmar junta.
The KNU cannot interfere with Shewkokko, however. Most importantly, in terms of geopolitical strategy, the KNU does not want to create more enemies, such as the Chinese mafia, or wind up getting into trouble with the BGF and the DKBA -- two other ethnic groups living in the area.
Given the infighting between the Myanmar government and these armed ethnic groups, the area along the river provides a safe haven for various criminal gangs, including human smugglers and narcotics traffickers.
Some parts of the area are used as a stopover for the trafficking of the Rohingya, while others are drug-trafficking hubs. But the most robust and thriving business among all these is the online scams. These operations have since gone global thanks to the rise of the Chinese-invested call centre scam networks. There are even reports of other Chinese being abducted for ransom by their compatriots.
Mae Sot: scam portal
The Chinese mafia and leaders of the DKBA and the BGF have all used Thailand as a gateway to this criminal hub. That explains why every flight that has landed in Mae Sot is full of young Chinese passengers who are then picked up by luxurious minivans at the airport. Similarly, the victims are flown to Mae Sot airport and then smuggled over the border by the Chinese mafia via natural paths along the Moei River. Such illegal routes have largely been made possible by kickbacks to officials.
Nearly all business activities need to use the border area in Mae Sot district. All these fraudsters and traffickers need to do is fly to Suvarnabhumi airport near Bangkok or even head directly to Mae Sot airport. People who visit Mae Sot airport will often use luxurious vans to pick up young Chinese.
Such news is well-known among local Thai officials and administrators. But they have closed their eyes to this alarming state of affairs. There are only basic immigration checkpoints along the border.
In reality, anyone can walk a bit deeper inside the jungle and wade through a narrow stretch of the Moei River to get to Myawaddy. Getting across the Tha Prachan pier in Bangkok to the Thon Buri side of the city might be harder than this.
What the government should and must do right away is install additional checkpoint services to inspect all foreign arrivals in Mae Sot district. This checkpoint guardrail could more or less contain the problem or at least provide clues on how the authorities can rescue these foreign victims.
Modern-day slave quarter
At Shwekokko, which is a special economic zone, there are modern buildings, an entertainment complex and casinos funded by Chinese investors. Despite its modern appearance, it is a slave cell for those who are lured to work there as scammers.
"If they knew I requested help from other people, they would have tortured me and confined me to a dark holding cell, tying my hands and hanging me from the ceiling, and then electrocuting me. Some have tried to escape, but they were all caught," the Lao woman told me during our private chat in December.
These victims can access the internet. But getting out is almost impossible.
Buakam told me about one Indian national who had contacted the Indian Embassy in Myanmar and was then found out, which resulted in them being electrocuted, beaten and put in solitary confinement.
Such penalties do not only apply to those who try to flee. For example, Buakam told me she had her hands and posterior zapped with electricity simply for failing to meet her work targets.
I asked her why she went to Shwekokko in the first place.
Like many low-income earners, Buakam travelled to Thailand to work at a restaurant in Bangkok. She was then contacted by a recruitment agent to accept a well-paid job in Myanmar. Some 18 of her compatriots were lured from various parts of Lao under similar pretences, she said.
She said there are many victims from all over the world at these scam call centres, including Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Like her, they cannot find any help from their respective governments.
That shows the weakness of diplomatic efforts in war-torn Myanmar. Now, only the Chinese government is active and effective in rescuing its people from this scam city.
On Feb 29, 2024, the Chinese government sent planes to pick up almost one thousand Chinese survivors and mafia members who had been placed under arrest in Mae Sot district and brought them back to China.
It took them three days to conclude the operation. Even though it was conducted in secret, news of it had leaked to reporters. Despite this, the operation was a success.
This raises the question of why or how the Chinese authorities were able to enter an area controlled by the DKBA and the BGF to crack down on the Chinese mafia. They were even allowed to use Mae Sot airport as a base.
It is intriguing to think how the Thai government must have felt about this.
Another question is, what does the Thai government plan to do about this in the future?
Nowadays, hundreds or even thousands of victims of these Chinese mafia networks are still being held captive and tortured in this scam city by the Moei River.
On some days, the bodies of foreign nationals are found floating in the Moei River. Some get stuck at the Thai border or are pushed away.
I lost contact with my source in late December. I wonder where she is now, but I am also afraid to think what may have happened to her.
I hope and pray that she is safe and has finally been rescued.
The case of the Chinese actor Wang Xing shows how all of us can help these victims if we put our minds to it.
Paskorn Jumlongrach is founder of Transbordernews.or.th.