CHIANG RAI – Police and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) are tightening checks on internet backhaul and mobile towers along the border with Tachileik in Myanmar and the Kings Romans project on the Lao side of the Golden Triangle.
Cross-border signals were still detected, and some major operators’ towers exceeded height limits.
On Monday, Pol Maj Gen Manop Senakun, Chiang Rai Provincial Police Commander, and Suphalak Rupsri, Director of NBTC Region 34 (Chiang Rai), led teams to inspect internet links and mobile base stations that could beam signals from Thailand into Myanmar and Lao from Chiang Saen and Mae Sai districts.
In Chiang Saen, Pol Col Anuphan Kantharan, Chief of Chiang Saen Police Station, joined the inspection. The team found signals crossing the Mekong, which forms the Thai–Lao border, near the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, home to the Kings Romans project in Ton Pheung, Bokeo, Lao PDR.
In Mae Sai, on the Thai–Myanmar border, Pol Col Technic Jansi, Chief of Mae Sai Police Station, took part in checks at three sites: the fibre hub at Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge 1 over the Sai River, the fibre hub at Friendship Bridge 2, and AIS and True mobile towers in Ban Sansai, Mae Sai subdistrict.
Pol Maj Gen Manop said that near Chiang Saen, opposite Kings Romans, engineers have reoriented antennas to face inland and reduced their tilt to limit coverage. The tower height measured 33 metres, above the 15 metre cap set by an NBTC board resolution for 2025.
The NBTC has ordered the operator to correct this. Users who roam into the King’s Romans area will be told the realistic coverage footprint.
In Mae Sai, at Friendship Bridge 1, six companies now operate nine fibre links across the border, down from 12 due to flooding. At Friendship Bridge 2, two firms once ran three links, all now shut.
At Ban Sansai, AIS and True antennas were also turned towards Thailand and tilted down to restrict reach. The towers were measured at 37 and 40 metres, again over the 15 metre limit. The NBTC has told the operators to fix the heights and to run coverage tests, then report the results to Mae Sai Police.
Police place a high priority on the Chiang Rai border. The Technology Crime Suppression Centre (TCSD) previously ran Operation Bridge Breaker to stop call centre crews and scammers from using Thai internet links to commit crimes.
In 2024, many cross-border feeds were cut, and cables and related kit were removed in large numbers.
Authorities in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, are stepping up efforts to break apart networks tied to Chinese-run scam operations based in neighbouring Myanmar and Laos.
These syndicates run human trafficking, cyber fraud, such as pig butchering investment scams, and money laundering. They thrive in poorly regulated border zones, including Myawaddy and Kayin State in Myanmar, and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Laos.
From 2024 to 2025, these actions led to over 70,000 arrests and 160 rescues. Crime groups adapt fast, often relocating and using Chiang Rai as a transit route for operatives on the move.
Chiang Rai borders Myanmar at Mae Sai-Tachileik and Laos at Chiang Khong, which makes it a prime corridor for smuggling staff and equipment for scam compounds. Thai Tourist Police and border units ran several raids in 2025, focusing on grey Chinese nationals, such as overstayers or undocumented travellers, heading to or from these sites.
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