Kuala lumpur: ASEAN requires stronger cross-border cooperation and intelligence sharing among governments, telecommunications operators, financial institutions, and tech platforms to combat digital scams and reinforce public trust across the region's expanding digital ecosystem, said Thailand's Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaichanok Chidchob. He emphasized that digital threats and transnational crimes do not operate within institutional or national boundaries, making cooperation between the public and private sectors increasingly important.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, one of the biggest hurdles governments face when deploying digital services is not whether citizens understand the technology, but whether they will be protected when something goes wrong. Chaichanok pointed out that in Thailand, users frequently question the safety and security of digital services, as well as the protection available to them. During a panel discussion titled 'From Protection to Participation - Building Trusted and Resilient Digital Ecosystems in ASEAN,' he highlighted the importance of public participation and the risk of obsolescence when people do not engage.
Chaichanok explained that Thailand's approach focuses on prevention and protection, which includes embedding security into digital architecture from the outset and fostering cooperation among government agencies, regulators, and private-sector players. He noted the critical role of collaboration in tackling technology-related crimes, which often involve telecommunications networks, financial institutions, and digital platforms simultaneously.
To address governance in the artificial intelligence (AI) era, Thailand has established the AI Governance Practice Centre (AIGPC), a hub designed to translate ethical AI principles into actionable frameworks. Chaichanok envisions an integrated ASEAN by 2030, where digital systems are interoperable across national borders, allowing, for example, a Thai national digital ID to be used seamlessly in Kuala Lumpur.
Google's senior director of government affairs and public policy for Southeast Asia, South Asia Frontier, and Taiwan, David Weller, echoed the call for closer collaboration. He warned that the interconnectedness powering the digital revolution also introduces systemic vulnerabilities. Weller suggested that AI could serve as a prevention tool, capable of identifying signals and predicting potentially risky situations before harm occurs. He advocated for greater real-time information exchange to enhance the collective ability to identify threats.
Mastercard executive vice-president Matthew Driver highlighted that scams present a unique challenge because they are fundamentally based on deception. Unlike service disruptions, scams directly undermine confidence in the digital ecosystem. He called for a shared accountability framework involving multiple players and stressed the importance of legislative frameworks that permit legitimate information sharing between industries.
Meanwhile, Circles Group co-founder and CEO Rameez Ansar emphasized the role of telecommunications operators in strengthening digital trust. He suggested that telcos could serve as a first point of contact for scam victims due to their existing relationships and communication channels with users. Ansar identified three essential layers of information sharing: within the telecom industry, across domestic sectors such as banking, and internationally to address threats originating from overseas.
M360 ASEAN 2026, organized by the GSMA, brings together ministers, regulators, and industry leaders to discuss digital trust, AI, resilient infrastructure, and regional digital integration. The event, held for the first time in Malaysia and the ASEAN region, is endorsed by the Communications Ministry, with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as host partner.