Foreigners to be required to use tracking SIM cards

Tourists take selfies at Wat Chai Wattanaram in Ayutthaya province. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission plans to track foreign visitors' movements in the country around the clock with special SIM cards. (Photo by Seksan Rojjanametakun)

Telecom regulators on Tuesday approved in principle a requirement that foreign visitors to Thailand use special SIM cards in their phones that can be tracked by the authorities.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the resolution was in the interests of national security.

The NBTC would discuss the measure with mobile phone operators, the Customs Department and other related state agencies.

Mobile operators can preset some technical features in SIM cards to ensure that they can always locate users, who will be unable to turn off the function, he said.

From January to July this year, 19.06 million foreigners visited the country, up 12% year-on-year, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.