A Thai senator raised tough questions in parliament over the government’s decision to cut off mobile and internet signals along the Thai-Myanmar border, demanding to know if the blackout has actually done anything to stop cross-border online scam syndicates. According to reports on September 21, she called on the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the telecom regulator, the NBTC, to produce hard data evaluating whether this strategy is actually working.
Her argument was simple: if pulling the plug fails to disrupt the scammers, but instead leaves regular border residents, local hospitals, schools, and government offices without working internet, the entire policy needs a serious rethink. On top of that, as soon as landlines and local cell towers were throttled, many of these criminal networks quickly pivoted to satellite internet like Starlink. Cutting off ground-level communications hasn't stopped them at all.
The senator urged officials to be honest about whether they even have the tech capability to detect, track, and block these newer satellite connections. In border towns, everyday working people—riding their motorbikes home after a shift, grabbing a bowl of noodles at a roadside stall, or trying to video call their families from rented rooms—are the ones suffering from the blackout. It has created a frustrating reality where ordinary locals cannot get a basic signal, while the scam compounds nearby stay fully connected via satellite. As many on the ground are realizing, simply yanking out the internet cable is never going to beat syndicates armed with newer technology.
