Photo Credit: Apichart Jinakul
A new emergency decree took effect on Sunday that requires financial institutions, telecom operators and social media platform owners to share responsibility for failing to curb scams.
Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said the new law was aimed at protecting people from losing assets to scams based on calls and electronic channels.
The decree on measures to prevent and suppress technology crime requires financial institutions and business operators to reveal information about accounts and financial transactions suspected of being involved in scams.
ADVERTISEMENT
They must also freeze suspicious accounts and transactions.
Phone and telecom service providers must screen out the short messages that may be involved in scams. The Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission must stop telecom services related to scams.
The financial institutions, telecom operators and social media platform owners that fail to follow anti-scam measures are liable to a fine of up to 500,000 baht. Any individual who is responsible for the failure is liable to a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of 100,000 baht.
Under the new decree, those who fail to have mobile phone subscribers properly register for services to prevent scams are liable to a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
Those who collect, reveal or use the data of the deceased for scams are liable to a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
In addition, a decree on digital asset businesses was amended to require digital asset exchanges in other countries to seek service licences in Thailand before providing services in the country. The newly amended decree took effect on Sunday as well.
Earlier, it was difficult for authorities to stop suspicious transactions by foreign digital asset exchanges that might support scammers’ money transfers.
