The Cabinet on 28 January 2025 approved a draft emergency decree aiming to tighten measures on law enforcement to prevent and suppress technology crime.

The decree, proposed by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, seeks to amend the Emergency Decree on Technology Crime Prevention and Suppression B.E. 2566 (2023). It will give the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, or telephone service providers, an additional duty to suspend SIM cards suspected to be used for cybercrime activities.

The draft emergency decree will ban peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms for illegal digital asset trading. It will expedite monetary refunds for victims by authorizing the Transaction Committee under the Anti-Money Laundering Law to approve the refunds without requiring a court ruling.

Tougher penalties will be imposed on those involved in wrongdoing concerning trading and exchanging digital assets of “cryptocurrencies” and “digital tokens,” as well as digital asset business operators involved in laundering money earned from online illegal activities. 

The draft decree will also increase the penalty for personal data trading. Financial institutions, mobile networks, and social media platforms must also be responsible for damage suffered by victims of technology crime.

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society stressed the need to propose amendments to the cybercrime decree, so that it will become up-to-date, more appropriate, and more effective in coping with the changing situation of many forms of technology crime.

The draft decree will be forwarded to the Council of State for consideration. It will take effect immediately once approved and published in the Royal Gazette. The Secretary-General of the Council of State said that the process would take no longer than 30 days. It is expected to come into effect in February 2025.