"The same old group" was behind cyber attacks which caused the Election Commission's (EC) vote-counting system to crash three times during Sunday's election, Immigration Bureau commissioner Surachate Hakparn said yesterday.
Also serving as deputy director of Thailand's Action Task Force for Information Technology Crime Suppression (Tactics), Pol Lt Gen Surachate, also known as "Big Joke", said he had been asked by the EC to probe the cyber attacks on its rapid reporting system.
"A preliminary probe confirmed that the system was hacked by people living both inside and outside the country," said Pol Lt Gen Surachate.
"They are the same old group but I cannot say whether they are linked with any political factions as I do not want to make baseless claims. The officers gathering information need more time."
According to Pol Lt Gen Surachate, more than 20 people have been busted for posting false information online related to the election.
More probes are under way, he said.
Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) officers yesterday met EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma as well as Chatchai Chanpraisri and Pakorn Mahannop, both EC members, to discuss the dissemination of fake news in the run-up to the poll.
Pol Col Jarungvith said a website was found to have published false stories alleging the dismissal of two EC members as well the inclusion of 20 million extra ballot papers for counting.
"TCSD officers have been asked to expedite efforts to arrest those behind the fake news," said Pol Col Jarungvith.
Pol Col Siriwat Deepo, deputy chief of the TCSD, said the offenders had almost certainly violated the Computer Crime Act and could face jail terms of up to five years and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht each.
He also warned social media users to carefully check information posted online before sharing it as that too could breach the law.
Meanwhile, a Facebook page posted a picture of a gathering of civil servants and police officers with a message saying it was reported in Phetchabun that officers had unsealed ballot boxes and replaced all the spoiled papers with extra ones.
However, Lt Hannarong Kerdkhlai, an election returning officer in Constituency 1 in Phetchabun, said this report was untrue.
The Provincial Election Commission is in the process of discussing the legal issues in relation to this false report and, if it is found to have affected the credibility of the commission, legal action would be undertaken against the owners of the page, he said.
