The Geopolitics of Crime: Analyzing the Role of Thai-Myanmar Security Policy in the Emergence and Expansion of Transnational Call Center Gangs

Abstract

This research article examines the relationship between the national security policies of Thailand and Myanmar and the emergence and expansion of transnational call center scam syndicates. Drawing on the concept of the “geopolitics of crime,” the study conceptualizes borderlands not merely as state peripheries but as contested zones of overlapping authority, interests, and shadow governance. Utilizing qualitative methodology, the research incorporates policy analysis, documentary review, and in-depth interviews with experts and stakeholders in the Thai–Myanmar border region. Findings reveal that (1) the security policies of both states inadvertently contribute to the creation of grey zones conducive to illicit activities. Thailand’s “buffer-zone approach” and Myanmar’s “state-within-a-state” governance model have enabled the entrenchment of criminal infrastructure; (2) local power groups—including ethnic armed leaders, state officials, and grey capital investors—play critical roles in facilitating and benefiting from call center networks as part of a parallel economic system; and (3) sustainable solutions require structural reforms in Thailand’s national security framework, including rethinking strategic assumptions, enhancing transparency, and adopting a people-centered border governance model. The article recommends that Thailand move toward an “accountability-based border administration,” supported by internal audit mechanisms, geospatial criminal intelligence, and multilateral security cooperation with neighboring countries. Such reforms aim to transform border regions from zones of organized crime into spaces of justice, security, and inclusive development.