Lights dimmed at scam hub - but 'pig butchering' goes on

Lured by fake jobs and trapped in compounds, thousands of trafficked workers continue to power a shadowy billion-dollar global online scam empire despite recent crackdowns.

- Philip Wen

The garish lights that once illuminated the night sky over the Burmese border town have not been seen for months — not since the electricity, internet access and fuel supply from Thailand were cut off.

But just as the neon signs and LED displays that once wrapped around Shwe Kokko's casino and hotels were a conspicuous display of wealth and allure, the town's more subdued facade is also largely superficial.

In reality, life has largely returned to normal in this scamming hub, home to some of the world's largest and most notorious fraud farms — even after a targeted crackdown in February saw more than 9,000 workers from dozens of different countries removed and repatriated.

Across the Myawaddy district on the Myanmar side of the border, separated from Thailand by just the 20m-wide Moei River, construction activity hums along: amid the loud clanging of metal and the whir of power saws, tower cranes swing overhead completing high-rise buildings.

Three separate buildings, wrapped in green construction mesh, are draped with red banners emblazoned with Chinese characters to mark the "auspicious" occasion of the towers' "topping out" — the milestone celebrating the completion of a building's structural framework.

Starlink satellite-based systems provide internet and telecommunications, while solar panels and petrol generators augment power supply. Fuel demand has surged so much that prices spiked across neighbouring districts in Myanmar, according to sightings and reports by international experts and aid groups.

Locals residents and workers in Shwe Kokko say the township's entertainment venues — from the casino to restaurants, hotels and brothels — have remained open, although business across the board has been quieter since the raids, and electricity is rationed.