New buildings intended for telecom scam operations are being expanded in Payathonzu (Three Pagodas Pass) Town, Kyainseikgyi Township in Karen State near the Thai border, according to locals.

New facilities linked to telecom scam operations are being constructed within a coffee plantation along the road connecting the town to Htilonnyu Waterfall.

Colonel Saw A One of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), which controls Payathonzu, owns the 700-acre roadside foothill plantation.

A local said telecom scam operators are employing more than 1,000 construction workers to build hundreds of buildings in the compound and have signed a five-year contract with Saw A One to run their operations.

Previously, the telecom scam facilities were being built in Kyeinchaung Village, a foothill community near Chaungzon Waterfall along the Payathonzu–Kyainseikgyi Highway, but they relocated to the coffee plantation after details of the site were leaked, he told Than Lwin Times.

Many Chinese nationals are reportedly leading telecom scam operations in Payathonzu, having entered the town with the assistance of the DKBA, which is also providing them protection.

Telecom scam operations in Shwe Kokko Town, Myawaddy Township in Karen State near the Thai border, faced a crackdown last year by the junta amid pressure from the international community and the Chinese government. However, these illegal activities have since relocated to areas such as Payathonzu and Phalu, where they continue to operate.