Cabinet okays draft Royal Decree on tackling cybercrime
The Cabinet has approved in principle a draft Royal Decree on Cybercrime Prevention and Suppression, the Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES) Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Thursday.
Chaiwut said the draft allowed financial institutions and business operators to exchange details of accounts and financial transactions of their customers.
Telecom operators are allowed to exchange customers’ data with other operators, while the Royal Thai Police headquarters, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and authorised agencies must also have access to the data.
The draft also tasked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) with establishing a database of registered users containing only data necessary for cybercrime investigation and prevention.
Financial institutions or business operators can temporarily suspend a transaction in case they detect suspicious activities or upon being instructed by investigating officials.
In case a complaint is filed by a victim, financial institutions or business operators must suspend the transaction immediately for up to 48 hours to allow the victim to lodge a police complaint. Officials must investigate the affected account or electronic wallet with seven days of receiving the complaint.
The draft has set the following punishments:
1. Those opening an account, electronic card, or electronic wallet for other purposes than personal use, or who let others use their SIM card for any illegal purpose, will be punishable with maximum three-years’ imprisonment, or a maximum 300,000 baht fine, or both.
2. Those advertising or inviting others to trade their account, electronic card, electronic wallet, or SIM card that could lead to illegal usage will be punishable with two to five years’ imprisonment, or 200,000 to 500,000 baht fine, or both.
Chaiwut said his ministry has submitted the approved draft to the Office of the Council of State for approval, before announcing it in the Royal Gazette.
Last week the NBTC had instructed telecommunication operators to inspect the use of cross-country internet services and penalise those who misuse them, in a bid to prevent cybercrimes that are on the rise.
According to NBTC’s instructions, the following steps will have to be taken:
• 8,000-plus people who own more than 100 SIM cards have until the end of January to verify their identities.
• 22,000-plus people who own more than 30 SIM cards have until the end of March to verify their identities.
• 380,000-plus people who own more than five SIM cards have until the end of June to verify themselves.
