By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE BHUMJAITHAI-LED government needs not have as long as a four-month period to crack down on Cambodia-based, transnational scammer networks preying on Thai and world victims because it would practically take them only a 30-day time from now to do so, said a prominent opposition figure today (Nov.4).
Pheu Thai Secretary-General/MP Prasert Chantararuangtong called on the Bhumjaithai-led government to take concrete action in 30 days against the Cambodia-based scammer networks rather than continue to raise some partisan hype over the issue which has already been put on national agenda.
It would roughly take the Bhumjaithai-led government a 30-day period and not as long as a four-month time as earlier supposedly sought to effectively combat the rogue rackets before Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul returns power to the people by way of a House dissolution and a subsequent, nationwide election some time in the upcoming December or January, according to the Pheu Thai secretary-general.
The prime minister has not yet set a time frame for the government to crack down on the scammer networks based in Cambodia and preying on unsuspecting victims in Thailand and elsewhere whilst the Pheu Thai secretary-general charged that the government has apparently handled the issue in superficial, hype-raising fashion and so far failed to do enough or do it quickly to fight such transnational crimes.
Prasert said the prime minister would probably opt out by dissolving the House to preempt censure debate on the scammer issue against which he might probably fail to combat effectively.
In the meantime, Anutin today declined to either confirm or deny speculation that he might probably dissolve the House before the end of the upcoming January which he had earlier tentatively scheduled, regardless of the government’s unresolved tasks to combat the suspected scammers and money-launderers as well as effectively address other significant problems involving Thai-Cambodian conflict and the people’s welfare issue.
Nevertheless, Prasert, a former digital economy & society minister, insisted that the government come up with truthful results of an investigation into allegations that his current successor Chaichanok Chidchob had been offered 40 million baht in monthly payoff in exchange for his turning a blind eye and deaf ear to an unspecified scammer racket clandestinely operating in Thailand.
Chaichanok, son of de facto Bhumjaithai boss Newin Chidchob, is secretary-general of the party which has become core of the current coalition government.
In addition, Prasert suggested that the Bhumjaithai-led government follow suit of a previous Pheu Thai-led government by freezing all “mule accounts” held by suspected associates of the scammers and cutting off the power, internet signals and fuels which would be otherwise used by those rogue racketeers inside Cambodia and along the Thai-Cambodian border. An estimated 500,000 “mule accounts” had been frozen during the time of the previous government as part of their anti-scamming measures, he said.
He said Thailand should play a leading role under some sort of regional scam combatting cooperation with the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, among other members of the world community, against the Cambodia-based scammer rackets.
However, according to former deputy police chief Pol. Gen. Surachate Hakparn, almost all scammer networks inside Cambodia and along the Thai-Cambodian border are currently independent of internet signals from Thailand and instead relying on satellite-linked signals purveyed by Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, an aerospace and telecom firm founded and run by American business mogul Elon Musk.
CAPTIONS:
Top A graphic image of a scammer by Growtika on Unsplash
Insert – Pheu Thai Secretary-General/MP Prasert Chantararuangtong. Photo – Naewna
Front Page – A graphic image on scamming by Didier Petit from Pixabay
Also read:
Starlink internet shutoff suggested to deactivate Khmer-based scammers
PM concerned over potential world boycotts against Thailand over scammers
Another Thai woman dies mysteriously in Poipet
Scam gangs entrapping children via online games: Cyber Police
