Laukkai (also known as Laukkaing, Laogai or Laokai; ; ) is the capital of

Kokang Self-Administered Zone The Kokang Self-Administered Zone (, ), also Laukkaing District () as stipulated by the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar, is a former de jure self-administered zone in northern Shan State. The zone is intended to be self-administered by the Koka ...

in the northern part of

Shan State Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

, Myanmar. It is located east of the

Salween River The Salween is a Southeast Asian river, about long, flowing from the Tibetan Plateau south into the Andaman Sea. The Salween flows primarily within southwest China and eastern Myanmar, with a short section forming the border of Myanmar and Tha ...

, which forms part of Myanmar's

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with the People's Republic of China at its upper reaches. It is about away from Nansan (

Chinese character Chinese characters are logographs used to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represent the only on ...

s: 南傘), China. In Laukkai,

Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese dialect spoken in much of Southwestern China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the nor ...

and Chinese characters are widely used, and the Chinese

renminbi The renminbi ( ; currency symbol, symbol: Yen and yuan sign, ¥; ISO 4217, ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the China, People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the Peop ...

is in circulation. It is the main town of Laukkaing Township of the

. It is from Lashio and from Kongyan. Its population is 23,435. Laukkai is notorious for its gambling, prostitution, human trafficking and online scams. Its annual rainfall is over .

History

It was a center of fighting in the August 2009 Kokang incident; on 24 August, it was occupied by troops of the

Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...

, Burma's

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

, led by Sr. Gen.

Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...

Under Myanmar government

Following the seizure of Laukkai from ethnic armies in 2009, the military installed a pro-junta militia. The militia subsequently grew rich off the production of drugs, and off gambling and prostitution to Chinese tourists. This gave rise to online scam compounds run by trafficked people mainly from China. '' The Strait Times'' reported in 2023 that around 40 scam compounds could be operating around Laukkai. On 17 February 2015, Myanmar president

Thein Sein Thein Sein (; IPA: ; born 20 April 1944) is a Burmese politician and retired military general who served as the 9th President of Myanmar from 2011 to 2016. He previously served as prime minister from 2007 to 2010, and was considered by many ...

declared a state of emergency three-month period of martial law in Kokang in response to fighting between government troops and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, a rebel group. The curfew was extended on 9 September 2019. On 6 March 2017, members of the

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) is an armed Insurgency, resistance group in the Kokang region of Myanmar (Burma). The army has existed since 1989, having been the first one to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese gov ...

(MNDAA) raided the Fully Light, Kyinfu, and Kyin Kyan casinos in Laukkai. The three casinos were owned by the rival Kokang Border Guard Force. The raid resulted in the death of one person, and the capture of tens of millions of dollars.

1020 incident

In the early hours of 20 October 2023, a for the hundreds of people forced to work at the Crouching Tiger villa of syndicate leader Ming Xuechang went awry, with Chinese media reporting that multiple Chinese citizens were shot and killed by guards while attempting to escape the compound. This incident has since been credited with forcing China to allow anti-junta forces to begin

Operation 1027 Operation 1027 ( my-name-MLCTS, MLCTS=1027 Cachcangre:, MY=၁၀၂၇ စစ်ဆင်ရေး, ) is an ongoing military offensive conducted by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, a military coalition composed of three ethnic armed organisati ...

Operation 1027

On 27 October 2023, the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched a new offensive against the Tatmadaw in northern Shan State. The offensive saw the MNDAA make gains in the Kokang, with the goal of recapturing Laukkai since its loss in 2009. On 11 and 12 November, the MNDAA started shelling Laukkai, and eventually ended up surrounding the city on 14 November. On 12 November, all 127 members of Light Infantry Battalion 129 surrendered to the MNDAA with their families near Laukkai in Konkyan. Due to Laukkai's position as a major area for scams, the MNDAA said that it would hand over any captured scam bosses to China. The MNDAA also issued orders to its forces to protect foreigners, rescue kidnapped victims, and to protect Chinese businesses and the China-Myanmar pipeline project. Since the MNDAA began closing in onto Laukkai, the city has seen a mass exodus. In late November, the MNDAA opened a humanitarian corridor for migrant workers in Laukkai to flee to Lashio through Laukkaing and Kunlong townships, and Wa state. The corridor was however not used for ethnic Kokang people. Many Kokangs fled towards the Chinese border, but had tear gas fired on them by the Chinese authorities. Myanmar-China Border Yanlonkyine Gate

On 6 December, the MNDAA captured the strategic Four Buddhist Statues Hill after three days of fighting against the Tatmadaw. The pagoda is located on a hill overlooking Laukkai and was the junta's last outpost before Laukkai. On 15 December, a temporary ceasefire was mediated by China between the Tatmadaw and the MNDAA in Kunming. China also issued arrest warrants for key members of the main families in Laukkai on 10 December, alleging that they were the ringleaders of telecom and online scams. This included the region's former chairman, Bai Suocheng. The ceasefire ended on 18 December after the junta launched airstrikes on a base controlled by the MNDAA. Following this, the MNDAA captured the Yanlonkyaing border gate on the Chinese border north of Laukkai on 19 December. On 28 December it was reported that "most" of Laukkai was now under MNDAA control, with junta forces largely abandoning the city. The MNDAA gained full control of Laukkai following a mass surrender of the last junta forces in the city on 5 January 2024.

MNDAA Control

On April 24, 2024, ten men (ranging in age from 19 to 38) were convicted in three separate cases. The charges ranged from selling stolen weapons to SAC forces and extortion to human trafficking and murder. 70% of the defendants were MNDAA fighters. Afterwards, three defendants were quickly led into the forest and executed.Ethnic Army Executes Three Men After Public Trial in Northern Myanmar
April 25, 2024.

The Irrawaddy ''The Irrawaddy'' () is a news website by the Irrawaddy Publishing Group (IPG), founded in 1990 by Burmese exiles living in Thailand. As a publication produced by former Burmese activists who fled violent crackdowns on anti-military protests in ...

References