Myanmar on Thursday handed over the first batch of hundreds of Chinese scam centre workers who are set to be repatriated through Thailand in the coming days.

Thousands of foreigners are expected to be freed and returned from scam compounds in Myanmar in the coming weeks, starting with 600 Chinese over the next three days.

The compounds run by criminal gangs are staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to work running internet scams swindling people around the world.

Many of those involved are Chinese and Beijing has stepped up pressure on Myanmar and Thailand to shut the centres down.

The Karen Border Guard Force, a militia allied with the Myanmar junta, has said it is preparing to deport 10,000 people linked to the compounds in areas it controls on the border with Thailand.

Two double-decker coaches delivered a first round of returning workers to the border post in the western Thai town of Mae Sot on Thursday morning.

"First group of 50 Chinese have crossed to Thailand and headed to the airport. There will be three more batches (today), each with 50 Chinese," a local border task force official has said.

China has put on 16 flights over the next three days to ferry 600 of its nationals home direcly from Mae Sot.

The release follows several visits by Public Security Assistant Minister Liu Zhongyi to Bangkok and the border in recent weeks to arrange the repatriation.

Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years, including in Cambodia and the Philippines, as the value of the industry has boomed to billions of US dollars a year. (AFP)