After the Karen Border Guard released 621 people from the Myawaddy crime zone over three days, the release and transfer process came to an abrupt halt. Needless to say, the main reason is the procrastination by Suu Kyi's supervision and the Karen Border Guard. Since the release of personnel from the Myawaddy crime zone entirely depends on the cooperation of Suu Kyi's supervision and the Karen Border Guard, who gets released and the number of people transferred are at the will of Suu Kyi's supervision, creating a rather helpless situation.
It is reported that China, Thailand, and Myanmar are preparing to negotiate in a few days to promote the smooth progress of the next phase of the crime zone personnel release and transfer process. Expecting the warlords deeply tied to the Karen State crime zone to actively cooperate in combating the zones they directly own shares in, or participate in managing, is bound to face significant resistance.
According to Thai media, the transfer passage at the Thai-Myanmar Second Friendship Bridge managed by the Karen Border Guard is eerily quiet. However, looking from Mae Sot in Thailand across the river to Myawaddy, the towering buildings under construction on the other side are still being orderly constructed, and the roaring sound of the zone's diesel generators can still be heard, indicating that the criminal activities in the zone are undoubtedly continuing.
Another noteworthy event is that Maxim Reshetnikov, an official from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, signed a package of cooperation agreements with Myanmar's Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations on the 23rd in Myanmar, preparing to launch a series of projects in the capital of Tanintharyi Region, Dawei. These include Russia building a deep-water port in Dawei capable of docking ships up to 200,000 tons, a coal-fired power plant, and a refinery.
Previously, Russia was preoccupied with the conflict in Ukraine and had no time for Myanmar affairs. Now, with the preliminary intentions for a ceasefire reached between the US and Russia, Russia is ready to make significant moves in Myanmar. The power plant and refinery are urgently needed by Myanmar. Due to the underdeveloped power development in Myanmar, the Karen State crime zone had to rely on electricity from Thailand. After Thailand cut off electricity and oil, besides using diesel generators, Suu Kyi's supervision could still allocate a certain amount of electricity from Myanmar's already insufficient national grid. Now, with Thailand cutting off power, Russia is rushing to build a power plant in Dawei, which is strategically located with its deep-water port and less than 100 kilometers from Karen State's Payathonzu.
