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 cut electricity supplies on Wednesday to several areas in neighboring Myanmar that are home to sites at the center of a global, billion-dollar online scam industry.

Thailand on Wednesday cut off power supplies to areas in Myanmar where scam networks operate, following a public outcry demanding government action to tackle the problem.

Some 61 people lured by call-center scammers to work in Myanmar were rescued and sent back to Thailand on Thursday. The group, rescued from the Shwe Kokko complex in Myawaddy, comprised 39 Chinese nationals,

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 power cut at 9 a.m. local time affects Myanmar’s Payathonzu in Mon state, Ban Muang Daeng and the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Tachileik, Shan state, and the eastern town of Myawaddy in Kayin state, he said.

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.

Thailand has cut electricity, internet and fuel supplies to five border areas in Myanmar, a senior Thai minister said on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian nation steps up efforts to choke scam centres that have become a growing security concern.