Thailand tightens digital ad rules with mandatory KYC to curb cross-border scams

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, a party-list MP from the People’s Party and an expert on the digital economy, said the Technology Crime Prevention Measures (No. 2) would take effect within 180 days, or around early November 2026, marking a major tightening of oversight of digital platforms in Thailand.

He said the measure comes amid growing problems involving fraudulent advertisements, fake pages and cross-border call-centre gangs using online advertising systems to reach Thai consumers.

Under the new rules, platforms providing online advertising services will have to require advertisers to verify their identity every time, unless they have already completed verification within the previous year. Verification may be carried out through facial recognition matched with a national ID card, or through a legally recognised Digital ID system.

In addition, platform operators will be required to keep data on advertisers, including anyone who pays on their behalf, for at least 90 days after an advertisement finishes running. This is intended to support retrospective checks and legal action if wrongdoing is found, or to enable the authorities to track people down if problems arise.

A key feature of the new measure is that regulation will be based on the target area of the advertisement, rather than the physical location of the advertiser. In other words, even if the advertiser is based overseas, if the ad is targeted at users in Thailand, the platform must require identity verification in line with Thai law.

“The law does not care whether the person placing the ad is sitting in Cambodia, China or Europe. If the ad is targeted to appear on the screens of people in Thailand, the platform must require that advertiser to verify their identity every time before the ad is published,” Pawoot said.

The rules also allow foreign nationals to verify their identity using a passport or overseas corporate documents, reflecting the government’s effort to close the loophole of cross-border ad placement, which has become a major tool for many online fraud operations.

“So foreign scammers will no longer be able to quietly place ads without submitting identification documents.”

At the same time, the law will increase direct pressure on global platforms, whether social media advertising systems or search engines. If fraudulent advertisements are allowed to appear in Thailand without proper verification of the advertiser, the platform may face legal action from Thai authorities, including the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society and the cyber police.

Pawoot described the measure as a turning point for Thailand’s online advertising system, because it is the first time the state has moved from chasing problems after the event to forcing platforms to take direct responsibility for screening ad buyers.

He said that until now, digital platforms had allowed individuals or networks overseas to buy ads targeting Thai consumers easily, at low cost and with little or no disclosure of identity, contributing to the spread of fake pages, investment scams, fraudulent product sales and call-centre crime on a wide scale.

“This measure is changing the model from anonymous advertising to verified advertising, which will significantly raise both the cost and the risk for scammers,” he said.

Even so, he believes that in the early stages, online businesses and advertising agencies may need to adjust to the additional KYC steps, including preparing identity documents for both individuals and companies. In the longer term, however, he said it would strengthen the credibility of Thailand’s digital economy and create a fairer competitive environment.

“This measure will force platforms to screen 100% of ad buyers. In future, fake pages or scammers based overseas will find it much harder to place ads across the border to deceive Thai people, because they will have to get through identity verification using passports or company documents. At first, those of us working in the sector may feel there are a few extra steps, but in the long run it will help clean up the advertising system. Buyers will have more confidence, and real sellers like us will no longer have to compete with illegal ads. Anyone running an online business should start getting familiar with each platform’s KYC system now,” Pawoot said.

Analysts in the digital industry broadly agree that the direction is in line with a wider global trend, as many countries are increasingly requiring technology platforms to take greater responsibility for the content and advertising published through their systems, especially in relation to cybercrime, financial fraud and consumer safety.

For e-commerce operators and online businesses, preparing documentation systems and understanding each platform’s identity verification process is set to become the new standard for digital marketing in Thailand from now on.