The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has stepped up measures to suppress crime that uses local mobile operators' telecom signals at the nation's borders.
The regulator recently held an urgent meeting with private telecom operators to jointly set measures to deal with issue in border areas.
NBTC deputy secretary-general Trairat Viriyasirikul said the regulator found in many border areas, there are activities that could lead to the use of mobile signals from Thai operators' base stations to conduct crimes, such as call centre scams or online illegal gambling.
These actions have damaged Thailand's economy, security and international relations, he said.
As part of short-term measures to halt this damage, the NBTC ordered Thai telecom operators to remove or adjust the direction of mobile signals to limit the service area to cover only Thailand.
Operators have to prevent the signals from reaching neighbouring nations, or else criminals living near the borders can use these signals, said the regulator.
Operators also have to monitor unusually high internet traffic near borders, said Mr Trairat.
The measures initially cover seven areas, including the border areas of the Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo province, and Mae Sot district of Tak province.
The NBTC also instructed operators to report progress on their compliance every seven days.
The move aligns with the government policy of cracking down on cybercriminals, said Mr Trairat.
On April 1, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told related organisations to provide concrete results of a crackdown on rampant online fraud within 30 days.
The number of online fraud complaints in April rose to 992 from 855 in March, attributed to a greater number of available channels for victims to file complaints, according to Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Jantararuangthong.