Thailand cracks down on mobile phone signal misuse along border

Senior NBTC officials inspect signal towers in Tak’s border district

 

Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is taking firm action to prevent the misuse of mobile phone signals along the border, particularly in Tak province.

 

The move aims to combat online crime and the proliferation of scam call centres.

 

On February 5-6, NBTC deputy secretary-general and acting secretary-general Trairat Wiriyasirikul, along with other officials, inspected mobile phone signal towers near the border in Mae Ramat district, an area of ongoing scrutiny since mid-2024.

 

Trairat announced stricter measures, ordering all mobile network operators to remove antennas within 50 metres of the border in Mae Ramat, Mae Sot, and Phop Phra districts by February 24. This affects a total of 24 towers. 

 



The NBTC is concerned about the possibility of antennas being redirected towards neighbouring countries for illicit purposes. Any unauthorised antenna installations discovered will result in the immediate revocation of the operator's licence.
  

For towers located within 200 metres of the border, operators must reduce transmission power and lower antenna height to a maximum of 15 metres. Towers within 3,500 metres of the border must not exceed a height of 30 metres.

 



 

Furthermore, the NBTC has imposed a ban on new tower installations in border areas, effective immediately. Exceptions will only be made for proven community areas with substantial populations, where tower height will be limited to 10 metres. These measures are designed to prevent signal overspill into neighbouring countries.

 




"We are confident that these measures will be more stringent, but we will not cause hardship to the Thai people," Trairat  stated. "The NBTC must address these signal issues because we have seen the suffering of Thai citizens caused by unscrupulous individuals who exploit the universal access to services we strive to provide, using them for illegal activities that harm the nation."
 
 



 

Over the next three months, the NBTC, both centrally and through its regional offices, will intensify inspections of signal towers along all of Thailand's borders. 

 

This effort will be coordinated with other agencies to tackle the call centre problem. The NBTC's border signal inspections have been underway since mid-2024.

(2025/02/06-00:00)