The 19 million people who have not yet registered the prepaid SIM cards used in their mobile phones must hurry up and do so before Friday's deadline, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) warned on Wednesday.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said a total of 66.5 million numbers had already registered, or 78% of the total 85.5 million issued numbers.
The largest mobile phone operator, AIS, has registered a total of 33.3 million numbers, or 80% of 41.6 million, while Dtac registered 20.5 million, or 76% of 26.9 million. The third-ranked operator, True, has registered 12.5 million users, or 74% of 16.9 million.
“People should go to register their number before Friday otherwise they will not be able to use the mobile phone, SMS or the internet,” he said.
The measure is partly aimed at curbing the use of unregistered mobile numbers by insurgents to detonate bombs in the far South.