Thailand considers stricter Internet rules on Thai-Myanmar border
A Thai committee is contemplating additional Internet access restrictions along the Thai-Myanmar border, a region notorious for scam syndicates in order to combat scam syndicate operations.
This week, a committee plans to visit Mae Sot district in Tak province to evaluate how these measures might impact residents, as stated by Siam Hathasongkorh, Chairman of the House Committee on Communications, Telecommunications, and Digital Economy and Society.
The committee comprises members from the National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT), telecommunications operators, and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
Siam’s comments came after a meeting yesterday, February 20, with officials from various government agencies, including the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) and the Anti-Online Crime Centre (AOC), alongside representatives from social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok. The meeting addressed the increasing number of online scam victims.
Siam mentioned that discussions also focused on ways to assist victims in recovering funds from scammers. However, he highlighted that current laws have yet to be amended to support asset recovery. Although the Cabinet has approved a second draft of a new cybersecurity act, it still requires Parliamentary approval.
He noted that scam syndicates often convert stolen assets into cryptocurrency, complicating recovery efforts since digital assets, unlike physical goods, are not easily auctioned.
Regarding the government’s strategy to prevent further online scam victims, Siam said the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the NBTC are collaborating to enhance public awareness of fraud, reported Bangkok Post.
He advised the public to disregard suspicious calls from unknown numbers, pointing to a recent case in which a university student was coerced into transferring over 500,000 baht to scammers after spending more than 17 hours on the phone with them.
In related news, China is intensifying its efforts to dismantle international scam operations along the Thai-Myanmar border, dispatching Liu Zhongyi, China’s Assistant Minister of Public Security, to the region to bolster the crackdown.
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