Minister claims he didn’t say Thai government was using spyware

“Yes, I said governments use Pegasus spyware to track individuals for national security, but I never said the Thai government did it!” That’s the gist of new clarifications Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn is making, back peddling quickly on his apparent admission on Tuesday that the Thai government was spying on dissidents.

After accusations surfaced last week stemming from joint research by Citizen Lab, iLaw, and DigitalReach that 30 activists and academics from Thailand had their Apple iPhones hacked between 2020 and 2021 by Israeli spyware software Pegasus, the Digital Economy Minister admitted he was aware of spyware being used to, “listen into or access a mobile phone to view the screen, monitor conversations, and messages.”

Now, he is seeking to clarify that when he essentially said “we spy on citizens” he didn’t mean “we” as in the Thai government, he meant “we” as in governments worldwide in general.

“I said I knew of the system that is used on security and drug (suppression) but I did not say that it existed in the Thai government.”

Claiming his comments to be global generalisations, the minister who said on Tuesday that Pegasus spyware was used only in matters of national security and for drug cases, has now distanced himself from his quotes that seemingly confess to Thai espionage programs against anti-government, pro-democracy protestors.

The investigation revealed that activists had their iPhones spied on during 2020 and 2021, but Thai Lawyers for Human Rights worked with 2 international tech firms and traced spying instances back as far as 2014. Pegasus and their parent company NSO Group have come under fire and legal pressure as governments around the world have utilised the spyware to keep tabs on opposition dissidents, activists, and journalists.

The company is on a US trade blacklist and Apple has sued them, but they have so far remained silent on the issue of use in Thailand.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post