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.

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.

The Thai government has set a six-month timeframe for its power cut measure along the Thai-Myanmar border, part of its crackdown on scam networks and drug-related crime.