Thai media reported that Thailand is preparing to issue arrest warrants for Colonel Saw Chit Thu of the Myanmar Border Guard Force (BGF) and others, on charges of transnational human trafficking.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of Thailand's Ministry of Justice has submitted evidence to the Anti-Human Trafficking Division on the 11th, seeking arrest warrants for three members of the Myanmar BGF, including Saw Chit Thu, Saw Mote Thone, and Saw Tin Win.
Saw Mote Thone and Saw Tin Win are key members of Saw Chit Thu's group. Saw Mote Thone is the commander of the fourth battalion of the BGF, and Saw Tin Win is the commander of the second combat battalion. They control the ten most well-equipped battalions of the BGF and are deeply involved in the operations of the criminal zones in Kayin State, obtaining illicit funds through transnational criminal activities.
Upon hearing this, Saw Chit Thu protested against Thailand's decision, "I want to ask: what exactly have I done to Thailand to justify such an arrest?" Saw Chit Thu said in an interview with BBC Burmese. "Have I committed any act of rebellion against Thailand?" "The arrest warrant plan is a huge danger to us. I am very saddened by the actions planned by the Thai people," he added.
In an interview with Myanmar media, Colonel Naing Maung Zaw, a spokesperson for the BGF, also agreed with his boss. He said: "It is wrong for Thailand to issue arrest warrants to the leaders of the BGF. They have done nothing wrong, and they have no comment on this."
Just as Saw Chit Thu and others have reacted before, facing external pressure, Saw Chit Thu tries to distance himself from the criminal zones. He has previously made a show of wanting to combat transnational crime and has repeatedly issued notices ordering foreigners in his controlled areas to leave. Recently, the BGF claimed to establish a special task force led by Saw Chit Thu to "completely eliminate and suppress network scams in the BGF-controlled border areas." But everyone knows this is a case of the thief shouting to catch the thief.
Saw Chit Thu's involvement in transnational criminal activities in Kayin State and acting as a protector for criminal gangs, as well as obtaining huge funds from criminal activities to establish large business conglomerates in several Southeast Asian countries, led to him being sanctioned by countries including the UK and the US last year.
Thai media claims that the BGF led by Saw Chit Thu is a notorious co-investor in the Shwe Kokko new city project on the Thai-Myanmar border, directly holding shares in projects like Water Valley, Asia Tai, Apollo, KK, and Yulong Bay Dongmei Sai West Port. The BGF rents out hundreds of zones in places like Myawaddy to criminal gangs and charges them a construction fund fee for Kayin State per person.
Thailand has cut off electricity, internet services, and fuel supplies to five areas in Myanmar, but the BGF was apparently forewarned and prepared in advance. After Thailand cut off the power, they generated electricity using diesel generators and solar power devices, and the media captured the lights still on in the parks at night. Subsequently, Thailand began to restrict the transportation of solar power devices to Kayin State and recently seized a significant number of solar power setups at the Thai-Myanmar border.
Even though Thailand has issued arrest warrants for Saw Chit Thu and others, as long as Saw Chit Thu does not enter Thailand and stays holed up in Kayin State, the arrest warrants cannot be executed. Saw Chit Thu has thousands of troops, and his BGF and the Karen National Liberation Army, armed with illicit funds and advanced weapons, are formidable forces that the Myanmar military is eager to ally with, providing him the confidence to resist arrest and sanctions.
In May 2024, another armed group in Kayin State, the Karen National Union, attempted to attack Myawaddy but was repelled by the BGF. Since then, the Karen National Union has not attacked the BGF.
The gangs of Bai, Ming, Liu, and Wei, initially wanted by major countries, also remained unarrested for a considerable time, continuing their criminal activities in the crime zones. Bai Suocheng's situation is similar to that of Saw Chit Thu; Bai Suocheng is the commander of the Myanmar Army's 1006 Border Guard Battalion, and Liu, Ming, Liu, and Wei all control significant armed civilian groups, with the Myanmar Army acting as their protector. Eventually, the allied forces defeated the Myanmar Army and forcefully took over Laojie, crushing the border guard battalions and civilian armed groups of Bai, Ming, Liu, and Wei, and clearing out the criminal gangs in Laojie.
