Reports of high-profile kidnappings on the Thai-Myanmar border have frightened Chinese tourists who were Thailand's top visitors in 2024. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has sought to quell safety concerns but posts claiming she said the entire Thai military would be deployed to Myanmar upon China's orders featured a video with fake subtitles.

Thailand will suspend electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar in an effort to curb scam centres, its government said on Tuesday, amid growing pressure on the illegal compounds that have ensnared vast numbers of people of multiple nationalities.

The government of Thailand has cut the power supply to areas near its border with Myanmar that are known to host brutal scam compounds.

Residents in Myanmar’s Myawaddy township, on the border with Thailand, are suffering severe impacts from the Thai government’s decision to cut electricity, internet and fuel supplies to the township on Feb 5.

Thailand will cut off electricity, internet access and oil supplies to some areas in Myanmar suspected to house cyber scam operations, widening a crackdown after a high-profile trafficking of a Chinese actor put a spotlight on criminal activities across the Thai borders.

Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked visiting Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Thursday for the "strong measures" her country has taken against scam centres targeting Chinese people.