Thirteen state agencies have pledged to keep a special watch on four businesses -- direct sales, tourism, e-commerce and food supplement production and distribution -- to prevent incidents such as the fake Japan tour scam from recurring.
Those state agencies include the Business Development Department, the National Police Office, the Tourism Department, the Provincial Administration Department, the Department of Special Investigation, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board and the Lands Department.
The agencies also agreed to jointly set up special task forces by the end of this month to conduct in-depth inspections of companies posing a risk of fraud.
After the recent tour scam, the alleged offender, WealthEver Co, a direct seller of food supplements, had claimed to offer cheap tour packages as an incentive for members to invest in the company.
The tour packages turned out to be bogus, causing more than 15 million baht in damages. The company's founder, Pasist Arinchayalapis, alias Sin Sae Shogun, was charged with running a direct sales business with the intent to defraud people.
Banjongjitt Angsusingh, director-general of the Business Development Department, said the 13 state agencies viewed it as essential to share information on those juristic persons that need close monitoring in four target businesses: direct sales, tourism, e-commerce and food supplement production and distribution.
"We have found that there are mounting complaints stemming from those four businesses," Ms Banjongjitt said. "Tightened inspections is hence desperately needed, as the practices, if left unchecked, will have wider, more negative effects on people and the overall economy."
According to the Business Development Department's statistics, there are a combined 16,728 juristic persons from those four businesses which have registered with the department.
Of the total, 1,150 are engaged in direct sales, 7,114 are in tourism, 4,800 are in the supplements business, both production and distribution, and 3,564 are engaged in e-commerce.