Hooray. After nearly a fortnight of to-and-fro brinkmanship and passing the buck among Thai agencies, the Thai government finally cut power to five border towns in Myanmar last week.
But the supply-cutting was too little, too late, and undertaken without any contingency plans, with hospitals and legitimate trade along the border also affected.
It remains an enigma why the Provincial Electric Authority (PEA) did not cut the power supply months ago without waiting for a growing public and international outcry that Thailand is becoming a transit point for human trafficking and scam operators.
It must be recalled that PEA briefly cut the power supply last year and subsequently reconnected it to contractors.
The latest supply cut should be seen as a small step on a long journey combatting transnational crime along Thailand's border areas.
The action was taken after Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul asked the National Security Council (NSC) on Jan 31 about the latest situation regarding five electricity trading points along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Subsequently, the electricity supply was cut off in five locations where many scam centres are located: the Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and Ban Huay Muang, both in Myawaddy, Three Pagodas in Payathongzu, Ban Mueang Daeng, and the First Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge both in Tachileik.
It is an open secret that responsible agencies have acknowledged for a while that the unusually high electricity consumption from these rural border towns and the energy consumption might have been used in these drug trafficking networks, money laundering, call centre scams, human trafficking, and other criminal activities.
Now, the question remains of why the Thai border bureaucracy persistently kicked the can down the road and failed to act. Mr Anutin's letter prompted a meeting on Feb 3 at Government House, quickly resulting in the decision to suspend power.
Before the decision was made, the buck-passing among the PEA, the NSC and responsible agencies with their silo cultures added more problems to an already sinister issue.
It is demoralising that each agency seems to display a variety of standards for responding to threats affecting national security.
For example, Trairat Viriyasirikul, acting secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), was quoted as saying on Feb 5 that the NBTC could not abruptly cut off the internet because "it is unclear that users in Myanmar were using the internet to commit crimes".
It is pivotal that all intra-agencies come together, stay on the same page and work on a comprehensive plan. So far, their fragmented approaches have allowed criminal elements to infiltrate and exploit their loopholes.
The surge in human trafficking also partly results from the Thai Immigration Bureau's suspension of the TM6 form, which was previously required at entry points. The bureau suspended this form for three consecutive years to ease congestion at international airports and promote tourism.
The suspension of TM6 has created new problems, making it more difficult for the authorities to track down the locations of culprits when crimes occur.
The bureau hopes to use a Thailand Digital Arrival Card linked to all concerned agencies through specially designed apps. This is expected to be operational in May, while the authorities will reactivate TM6 this April.
The rise of scam centre operators is also linked to the inability of the military junta in Nay Pyi Taw to take control of the country's territory along the Thai-Myanmar border. Since the 1027 Operation in 2023, the military junta has lost territory to resistance forces. The ethnic armed groups are no longer as docile as Thailand would have thought.
The NSC has been tasked with studying the issue and recommending preventive measures and solutions due to electricity sales to neighbouring countries.
Following the cutting of power, the Border Guard Force (BGF) has been more willing to cooperate with the Thai government. One day after the power was severed, the BGF handed over 61 human trafficking victims to Thai authorities. They comprised people from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Pakistan.
As long as the Myanmar crisis continues, the conflict between the junta and ethnic armed groups will rage, creating a power vacuum along the border areas.
Continued suppression, with cooperation from Nay Pyi Taw as well as China, is essential to clamp down on scam operators and other cross-border crimes.
It must be said that China plays a big role in taking down the scammers.
Beijing has urged Bangkok to cut off power, water, and internet access to disrupt scam operations in Myawaddy. Previously, China has also pressured Myanmar to combat scam operators who have lured hundreds of Chinese victims to its northern border.
Most of these scam centres have since moved southward, bringing trafficked Chinese and other foreign workers with them.
Myawaddy has been a major target due to its large-scale operations involving trafficked international workers.
Before Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra visited Beijing last week, Thailand and China agreed there must be tangible progress before she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The decision provided good optics for their close relationship. The cooperation will intensify in the coming months, especially in intelligence and data exchanges.
As for Thailand's reputation, the news headlines have tarnished the country's enhanced record regarding human trafficking.
The previous government spent several years improving its record on trafficking and slave labour to gain acceptance and legitimacy from the international community. The Prayut administration must be credited for prosecuting wrongdoers, including senior military officers involved in human trafficking.
The upcoming Trafficking In Persons report will likely downgrade Thailand's performance from Tier 2, since 2021, to Tier 2 Watch list.
Furthermore, the scammer scandal also came at the worst time, as Thailand is taking up a seat on the UN Human Rights Council beginning this year and continuing until 2027. Human trafficking has become the latest stain on the country's human rights record.
Pheu Thai politicians must work together with the Thai military to continue to deal with the BGF and ethnic armed groups along the Thai border, making it clear that such illicit activities under their controlled areas will not be tolerated.
Similarly, provincial officials and mechanisms must be ready to handle an influx of Myanmar people living across the border due to the power cuts.