Those who expect the government and financial regulatory bodies to have quick and strong safeguards to protect wide-eyed investors from Ponzi schemes and hustlers: prepare for a letdown. The latest tit-for-tat this week among the ministries responsible suggests that people will have to wait for a solution, or simply just safeguard themselves.
The tit-for-tat started on Sunday when the Minister for Digital Economy and Society, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, told the media that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is failing to adequately monitor firms offering new investment schemes and that this lack of oversight has led to billions of baht in losses, he said.
“In my opinion, the SEC didn’t do its job properly, allowing [fraudulent] firms to be founded, which, in turn, caused losses of over 10 billion baht,” Mr Chaiwut told reporters yesterday. The DES minister is known for his blunt remarks and interloping. Last year he even pressured the public health minister to legalise e-cigarettes.
Despite the latest Ponzi schemes — including Forex-3D and other scams — being conducted mostly online, the DES minister said he does not have the authority to block websites or individual accounts without a request from other agencies, which must be backed by evidence.
The DES needs to review the Computer Act to empower the ministry to shut down such websites. He does not know…
