Matthew Brunwasser

Mar 4, 2025 | frontiermyanmar.net | Matthew Brunwasser

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER | FRONTIERHaving long tolerated and even facilitated cyber scam centres exploiting thousands of trafficked foreigners just across its border with Myanmar, Thailand is reacting to domestic and international pressure to demonstrate it is serious about shutting them down. A stream of top-level officials from Thailand and China has visited the Thai town of Mae Sot, across the border from Kayin State’s Myawaddy Township over the last month.

Feb 20, 2025 | frontiermyanmar.net | Matthew Brunwasser

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER | FRONTIERLast weekend, Thai opposition parliamentarian Mr Rangsiman Rome led a delegation to Mae Sot in Tak province to investigate the impact of Thailand’s crackdown on scam centres operating across the border in Myanmar’s Kayin State. Deputy leader of the People’s Party, Rangsiman serves as chair of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, National Strategy, and National Reform.

Jan 31, 2025 | frontiermyanmar.net | Matthew Brunwasser

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER | FRONTIER More than a week has passed since United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order immediately freezing all international aid pending a 90-day review. Since then, humanitarian organisations working on Myanmar have been scrambling to grasp the repercussions of the sudden edict. “It’s pandemonium,” said an aid worker who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Nov 27, 2024 | frontiermyanmar.net | Matthew Brunwasser

By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER | FRONTIERThe six boats were fishing last month in Bangladeshi waters, close to the maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal, when a Myanmar warship appeared about a kilometre away. Fearful of the Myanmar navy’s reputation for violence and aggression – including several recent attacks on Bangladeshi fishing boats – they immediately withdrew their nets and began motoring back towards the Teknaf peninsula. But it was too late.