The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry and related agencies have seized 58 sets of Starlink satellite equipment that fraudsters intended to use for receiving and transmitting high-speed internet signals via satellite, as part of efforts to crack down on online crime.
According to DES Minister Prasert Jantararuangthong, measures to suppress online crimes, especially the removal of unauthorised cell signal towers and cross-border cables, have led criminal groups to adjust their online crime patterns to avoid inspection and suppression.
As a result, he said the DES Ministry and relevant agencies have tweaked their operations and stepped up coordination with security agencies to thwart the fraudsters.
Mr Prasert displayed the seized Starlink equipment at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The joint effort included the Central Investigation Bureau, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), and state enterprise National Telecom.
He said the Starlink devices were seized from a parcel delivery shop in Pong Nam Ron district, Chanthaburi province, which were to be sent to addresses in Mae Sot and Mae Ramat districts in Tak.
The devices are assumed to belong to a call centre scammer gang and an online gambling network that intended to send the receivers to the Thai border with Cambodia to people who would forward them to associates close to the Myanmar border.
The equipment was expected to be utilised for committing online crimes, said Mr Prasert.
All of the devices are considered to be illegal goods smuggled in for sale to avoid customs procedures. This activity is covered under the Customs Act of 2017, so police officers seized the goods.
In addition, on June 10 the Royal Thai Navy, represented by the Chanthaburi and Trat Border Defence Command, inspected and seized six boxes containing sets of Starlink satellite equipment for internet signal reception and transmission in front of a parcel delivery shop in Pong Nam Ron district in Chanthaburi.
All the devices are illegal and not permitted by the NBTC for import into Thailand. According to the ministry, the value of online fraud in April was 110 million baht per day, down 26% from March when it was 149 million baht per day.