Reported explosions, shutdowns and the raid at KK Park

On 19 October 2025, the State Security and Peace Commission’s (SSPC) Ministry of Information reported that a raid had taken place on a scam centre known as KK Park in Myawaddy Township, Kayin State.

Myanmar Witness analysed events related to this reported raid, as well as subsequent developments in and around KK Park during October 2025.

It is worth mentioning that Myanmar Witness has noted that local media outlets have been connecting the timing of the military raid and that of the ASEAN summit at the end of October. For example, The Irrawaddy claims that the raid was a “staged public relations stunt” with the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) to convince an international audience that it was finally taking action against these scam centres. Additionally, the Mindat Post and The Reporters mention this connection. 

Key Findings

• Myanmar Witness geolocated imagery, published by the SSPC (formerly State Administration Council (SAC)) and MRTV, confirming there were Myanmar military soldiers at KK Park, as well as the reported seizure of 30 Starlink devices (see section 2.1.2). 
• Myanmar Witness also geolocated footage showing people reportedly fleeing KK Park and moving north toward Myawaddy and nearby border crossings following reports of a future raid (see section 2.2.1). 
• On 22 October 2025, SpaceX reported that it shut down more than 2,500 Starlink devices in Myanmar because they were being used for illegal purposes. By comparison, the seizure of 30 devices at KK Park on 19 October indicates a limited on-site confiscation.
• On 23 October 2025, footage shared online from the Thai side of the border shows there was an explosion within KK Park (specifically KK Park II), roughly geolocated by Myanmar Witness to [16.630450, 98.569310] (exact coordinates are not available due to smoke). Further reports of explosions have been occurring daily since this initial explosion, indicating likely intentional activity within the park. 
• Myanmar Witness documented claims that Chinese officials would visit KK Park alongside the Myanmar military, which reportedly provoked a mass movement of people leaving the KK Park area.

This article presents key analytical findings and geolocations verifying military presence and subsequent events in and around KK Park in October 2025.

Analysis

Reported events on 19 October 2025 

On 20 October 2025, the SSPC’s Ministry of Information shared images reportedly showing the removal of so-called Starlink devices inside KK Park (figure 1). It is important to note that all of these images lack distinctive features confirming KK Park, but visible elements include red roofing and surrounding green space. Starlink devices can be seen being handled in the imagery shared. The text at the top of figure 1 translates to: “documentary photo of military columns conducting necessary inspections inside the KK Park area”.

Accompanying text in figure 2 below translates to “record of the removal of illegally installed Starlinks in KK Park, Myawaddy Township, Myanmar – Thailand border area”, followed by “illegal Starlinks installed on the roof of a building in KK Park, Myawaddy Township are being removed”. The roof and location are, unfortunately, indiscernible.

Another important image (figure 3 below) with accompanying wording states the same translation for the text in figure 2 above. The bottom text translates to: “documentary photo of the inspection and removal of 30 illegal Starlink sets on the roofs of four buildings in KK Park, Myawaddy Township, Myanmar – Thailand border area”. Myanmar Witness confirms the appearance of 30 Starlink devices in the photo provided.

Imagery Geolocation

The SSPC’s Ministry of Information uploaded four additional images. Two appear to be taken inside a building, potentially the same structure shown on the left of figure 4. The left-hand images were geolocated to [16.627943, 98.551313] within KK Park (see figure 5).

Myanmar Witness also geolocated an image of soldiers near a newly constructed building in the eastern section of KK Park [16.625742, 98.568310]. The image, published by MRTV, shows reported Myanmar military soldiers pointing their weapons towards buildings in the north. This approach suggests the location was not deemed safe at the time.

Reports of a future raid and subsequent events 

Imagery Geolocation

On 22 October 2025, people appeared to be fleeing from the Myawaddy area following reports (source removed due to privacy issues) that the Myanmar military and Chinese officials would potentially be carrying out a second, larger raid. The following geolocations are presented below:

KK Park explosion

On 23 October 2025, at around 1800 local time, KK Park was reportedly bombed. The Mindat Post stated there were three explosions and attributed the bombings to the Karen Border Guard Force (KBGF). The report mentioned that the site was bombed ahead of a potential second military raid, alongside Chinese officials. A video of one of the explosions, with large plumes of smoke, shows that it was filmed from the Thai side of the border with geolocatable features from the landscape and park highlighted (filming location coordinates from Thailand omitted for privacy reasons) (figure 10). This confirms that KK Park and the surrounding area were likely bombed.

Starlink devices shut down  

Following the news of the 19 October 2025 raid, and on the same day as claims of a potential future raid (22 October 2025), the SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Business Operations, Lauren Dreyer, announced on their X account that Starlink had shut down over 2,500 devices in Myanmar over illegal activity usage, which goes against Starlink’s policies and “applicable law” (figure 11). This number is significantly higher than the SSPC’s account of devices seized during the military’s raid on 19 October 2025.

The SpaceX shutdown likely occurred on 22 October 2025, and reportedly targeted Starlink devices in the wider area, and not in KK Park alone. With that said, analysis of user-generated content (UGC) and satellite imagery suggests the presence of hundreds of Starlink devices in KK Park. Therefore, the reported seizing of 30 devices may be negligible considering the total number of available devices in KK Park. This highlights that 30 devices were likely not a large number to raid in connection with the illegal activity occurring in Myanmar, especially with KK Park being one, if not the largest, scam centre in the country at the time of reporting. 

Conclusion

The 19 October 2025 raid and confiscation of Starlink devices by the Myanmar military appear limited in scope. Thirty Starlink devices were reportedly removed from four roofs, with relatively little geolocatable imagery released by the SSPC. Widespread reports of a larger future raid by the military and Chinese officials further suggest the 19 October action was not comprehensive. Finally, observed mass movement away from KK Park and subsequent explosions inside the complex indicate significant disruption to scam activity around Myawaddy. Myanmar Witness is unable to determine if this potential “crackdown” on one of the largest, if not the largest, scam centres in Myanmar is a one-off or if other scam centres nearby will also face a similar fate. 

Myanmar Witness continues to monitor and will analyse future incidents and reports coming from the Myawaddy area, particularly around scam centres such as KK Park. Reports of continued explosions after 23 October 2025 warrant further analysis as additional geolocatable material becomes available.