Kutkai: History
In the early 20th century, the area around Kutkai was explored by British botanists. In 1912, Stephenson documented that he had found the earthworm species Pheretima molesta of the genus Pheretima in Katkai.
Shan State became a major area for Christian missions to Burma in the mid-19th century.
Kutkai was an important centre for the Kachin Baptist Church and was visited by missionaries, notably Baptist Reverend George J. Geis in the 1930s and Gustaf A. Sword from 1936 to 1942.
Geis died in Kutkai on October 28, 1936 whilst he was working there at the Kachin Bible Training School he had established.
During World War II, Kutkai was occupied by the Japanese. On September 10, 1944, the Chinese Fourteenth Air Force sent out 45 B-25 Mitchells to bomb Kutkai along with the towns of Tunganhsien, Lingling and Tunghsiangchiao. but the town was abandoned without a fight when the Chinese reached it on February 19, 1945.
In July 1954, Hoo Kya Chin, a Kokang businessman from Mu Kwan was arrested by the immigration officials in Kutkai for not carrying an identification card which caused some controversy in the region.
In the 1980s, two privates and a sergeant of the Kachin Independence Army insurgent 4th Brigade surrendered at Kutkai garrison.
In 2022, the town became the capital of the newly formed Kutkai District.
On 7 January 2024, the town was captured by the Three Brotherhood Alliance from the State Administration Council during Operation 1027, an offensive launched during the Civil War. The town was administered by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army.
Following a breakdown of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) captured the town from the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).