65 billion baht and counting: Thais’ online scams spark seminar

Thais have lost a staggering 65 billion baht annually to online scammers over the past three years, prompting the Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) to organise a seminar this month with its ASEAN Plus Three counterparts. This initiative aims to address consumer protection in the rapidly evolving digital economy.

The TCC, in collaboration with the Indonesian Consumers Foundation and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations, will host the ASEAN+3 Conference in Thailand 2024. The event, themed Consumer Protection in the Digital Economy and AI, is scheduled for tomorrow and the day after at the Amari Don Mueang Airport Bangkok Hotel.

Saree Aongsomwang, TCC Secretary-General, stated that this will be the first ASEAN conference focusing on this critical topic. Representatives from consumer protection agencies across ASEAN—Cambodia, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand—and the plus three countries: South Korea, China (including Hong Kong), and Japan, will attend.

The conference aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information between ASEAN+3 consumer protection agencies. It seeks to foster partnerships with related private and public organisations in Thailand to safeguard consumers using e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, reported Bangkok Post.

Saree highlighted the dual nature of the fast-developing digital economy and AI, which significantly impact daily life and entrepreneurship while posing several threats to consumers.

“Thai people have lost 65 billion baht (US$1.9 billion) annually, or 180 million baht (US$5.26 million) daily, to online fraudsters over the past three years.”

Data from the TCC indicates that 1,386 digital scam cases occurred in the first half of this year alone, many on popular digital platforms such as Facebook, Lazada, and Line, Saree added.

“The upcoming seminar will be another one of our tools for finding opportunities to provide better safety for consumers.”

In related news, Thailand last month witnessed a dramatic surge in online fraud, with a staggering 34,989 cases reported and total losses hitting a whopping 3.47 billion baht.

That’s an eye-watering average daily loss of 111.98 million baht. Meanwhile, requests to freeze suspicious accounts topped 13.54 billion baht, with police managing to lock down 1.49 billion baht.