Thai PM declares war on cyber crime: Anutin orders crackdown on scammers and cross-border fraud rings

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul wasted no time taking on cybercrime, launching a bold new crackdown and putting Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) in charge of a coordinated national response.

The announcement came during Anutin’s first official board meeting with Isoc on Monday at their Bangkok headquarters. According to government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat, the Prime Minister stressed the urgent need to strengthen the country’s digital defences — and to stop Thailand from becoming a safe haven for online scam syndicates and international fraud rings. The Prime Minister likewise highlighted the need for Thailand to stay ahead of these threats.

He called for faster information sharing between agencies, real-time responses to cyber incidents, and better cooperation — not only within Thailand but also across borders. His plan includes tighter coordination between security, financial, and law enforcement bodies to take down increasingly sophisticated scam operations.

The meeting also endorsed four new security strategies for southern Thailand, with a focus on drug suppression, anti-terrorism, and cracking down on online scams — a clear shift in national security priorities toward digital threats.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Thammanoon Maisonti emphasised that smarter intelligence-gathering and unified databases are now essential tools in fighting cybercrime. He further accentuated that it isn’t just about making arrests but also about deep, coordinated investigations that can dismantle entire networks.

Meanwhile, Thailand is also taking the cybercrime fight to the global stage. At this week’s 151st Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, Thai delegates urged world leaders to unite against transnational online fraud.

Led by House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, the Thai team submitted an urgent motion during the Asia-Pacific Group meeting. MP Rangsiman Rome of the Move Forward Party warned that online scams are now a “global threat, eroding economies and preying on the vulnerable.”

The motion — co-authored by Thailand, China, and Cambodia — proposed stronger global collaboration, including shared data systems, joint investigations, and legal tools to trace and recover stolen assets. It also called on tech companies to take more responsibility for stopping scams on their platforms.

The Asia-Pacific Group backed the proposal for fast-track status at the IPU plenary session. However, in a surprise move, Cambodia later withdrew support, arguing that the motion went beyond the assembly’s usual humanitarian focus.

Despite that hiccup, Thailand’s push to bring cybercrime into the global spotlight is gaining attention — and signals the government’s growing ambition to become a regional and international leader in cybersecurity.