Thailand cuts power to Myanmar border towns’ notorious casinos, but they keep operating

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai state enterprise that has been exporting electricity to neighboring Myanmar has cut off power to two border towns with notorious casino complexes that allegedly host major organized crime operations. The towns host gambling and entertainment complexes developed by Chinese investors that are accused of being centers where people from other nations are tricked into taking jobs and then forced to help carry out internet and phone scams. A police chief in Thailand’s neighboring Mae Sot district says power from Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority to the complexes was cut at midnight on Monday, but the casinos appear to be operating as normal using their own generators.