Police Launch Cybersecurity Teacher Program in Region 8
Police are training 242 officers across Region 8 as cybersecurity educators to teach communities how to recognize and avoid online scams, which cost Thais billions annually.
Deputy National Police Chief Trairongk Phiwphairn, serving as deputy director of the National Police Office's Information Technology Crime Suppression Center and spokesman, delivered a keynote address titled "Cyber Vaccination: Building Public Immunity Through Model Teachers" to 242 officers attending the second cohort of the Integrated Cybercrime Prevention Model Teachers seminar across all Region 8 police stations on August 3, 2025, at the Region 8 Police Training Center in Surat Thani.
Trairongk stated that online crime represents a new security threat causing massive global damage worth trillions of baht annually, affecting Thais across all professions with losses totaling tens of billions of baht yearly. Criminals typically employ five psychological manipulation tactics—fear, greed, love, empathy, and urgency—to attack victims' minds and trigger poor decision-making with severe financial consequences.
The role of cybersecurity model teachers is critical: they must work in the field to build cyber-protection awareness among all community groups, teaching people to recognize scams and follow protective practices: don't click links, don't install apps from suspicious links, don't trust, don't rush, don't transfer money, don't share OTP codes, and hang up immediately if contacted by fraudsters.
Trairongk added that the program targets each model teacher reaching 100 households in their area to develop proactive cybercrime defense capacity and build community resilience against digital threats.
