The Civil Court's new online shopping division will start accepting fraud cases for consideration on Thursday, Office of the Judiciary spokesman Sorawis Limparangsi said on Wednesday.
Mr Sorawis said Civil Court acting chief justice Pat Wiphumirapee, of the Supreme Court bench, had issued an announcement officially opening the online shopping division from Jan 27.
The online shopping division provides a channel for victims of online fraud to file cases against alleged offenders through an e-filing system, free of charge.
Damaged parties can start filing their cases from Jan 27. The official opening ceremony will be broadcast live on Thursday on a Facebook page.
Mr Sorawis said after the opening the Office of the Judiciary will sign an agreement of cooperation with the Consumer Protection Board, the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, the Food and Drugs Administration, the Legal Execution Department of the Royal Thai Police and the Thailand Consumers Council for the exchange of information for consumer protection.
The formation of the Civil Court's online shopping division was published in the Royal Gazette on Dec 20, 2021, effective from Dec 21.
The new unit was deemed necessary as online shopping has grown in popularity, especially since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to a pile-up of complaints of online fraud yet to be resolved.
The Digital Economy and Society Ministry said its hotline received about 2,000 complaints from consumers each month about online fraud. The most common channels of online scams are Facebook and Instagram.