[5][6] Geis died in Kutkai on October 28, 1936 whilst he was working there at the Kachin Bible Training School he had established.

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.

[9] 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.

[10] In the 1980s, two privates and a sergeant of the Kachin Independence Army insurgent 4th Brigade surrendered at Kutkai garrison.

[11] 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.

From September 1996, the U.S. Department of State funded $530,000 and established agricultural cooperatives in 25 villages in Kutkai township to crack down on the illegal drugs trade by promoting the growth of buckwheat, wheat, potatoes and other vegetables.