Five panels set up to target scams

Mule accounts plunge nationwide

PUBLISHED : 7 Jun 2026 at 05:29

Five subcommittees have been set up to intensify efforts against cybercrime, scam networks and illegal foreign nominee businesses, while the government reported a sharp decline in technology-related crime cases over the past year.

The subcommittees were set up on Friday during a meeting of the Committee on the Prevention and Suppression of Technology Crime and Transnational Crime, chaired by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

The panels will focus on investigating and suppressing technology-related and transnational crime, strengthening public awareness campaigns, reviewing laws and linking financial data to improve monitoring of suspicious transactions.

The meeting noted progress in tackling cybercrime, with technology-related crime cases falling from 34,478 to 16,920 between July last year and May, a decline of 50.9%.

Financial losses suffered by victims also dropped from 2.22 billion baht to 513 million baht, down 76.9%.

Authorities arrested suspects in 1,494 scam-related cases, seized more than 57 million baht in cash and assisted 808 victims between October last year and May.

Government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said progress had also been made in combating mule accounts used by criminal networks since the previous administration under Mr Anutin, reflecting the government's commitment to tackling such crimes.

The Anti-Cyber Scam Centre said checks through the Bank of Thailand's Central Fraud Registry identified 189,887 personal mule accounts and 10,672 corporate mule accounts between October last year and May.

Ms Rachada said the number of personal mule accounts fell by 76.9%, while corporate mule accounts dropped by 88.4%. Related transactions also declined by 66.1%, reflecting improved information-sharing among police, financial institutions, regulators and security agencies.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said strict law enforcement was needed to address long-standing problems, noting many crimes had been enabled by state officials and local people.