There are reports of avatars, fake accounts, and bots being used to amplify political information, manipulate public opinion, and sow social division.
This is systematically achieved by exploiting platform algorithms to scale ideological amplification.
This represents a “data war” hidden beneath the iceberg of digital crime.
While the government has begun implementing measures, such as the Decree on Technology Crime Prevention, blocking fraudulent SMS messages, instant transaction freezing systems, and the Bank’s Cyber Security Coordination Centre, the speed of cyber threats, which utilise AI and automated command systems, often outpaces traditional legislation and bureaucratic processes.
This fight is not a conventional effort to “catch a criminal.”
It is a matter of national defence in the digital world. If data is the new form of wealth, protecting citizens must involve developing proactive detection systems, building cyber literacy skills within society, and elevating law enforcement to international standards.
This must be coupled with regional cooperation with neighbouring countries to break the cycle of cross-border networks.
The future of Thailand’s digital economy genuinely depends on its ability to manage the cyber threat.
In an era where the weapons are code and data, the border is no longer a geographical area, but rather the “security of citizens’ data,” which is rapidly becoming the new battlefield of the digital age.
