Under the warning, branded ‘Beware of fake “Thailand Pass” websites’, the ANFC explained that the website www.thailandpass.org had claimed it was a state website to register for travel to Thailand.
The Anti-Fake News Center conducted a fact check with the Department of Information under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and found that such issues were “False information”, said the warning.
The confirmation came via Noppawan Chaiyamun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, who explained, “Since the opening of the country, all tourists entering Thailand must register to obtain an electronic travel certificate (Thailand Pass QR code) in the “Thailand Pass” system, but the problem encountered is that there is a group of professionals going to register domain names, such as ThailandPass.org, pretending to be a government website.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore warns all tourists to be careful and do not be fooled by entering information into such websites,” Ms Noppawan said.
“In the event that the website www.thailandpass.org appears to specify that the registration system informs the Department of Information of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the [registrant’s ] travel to Thailand, [the ANFC] has checked and clarified that the website is a fake website that is not from any government agency or in any way connected to the real ‘Thailand Pass’ website https://tp.consular.go.th that has been opened for registration to travel to Thailand to replace the COE system and which has been activated since November 1, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.” the warning said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been continuously and closely supported by the Digital Government Development Agency (DEPA) to develop and take care of the orderliness of the system activation. In the beginning, some crashes were reported. The relevant agencies have been closely supervised and corrected as well as collecting problems and concerns of users in order to further improve the system. The website ‘Thailand Pass’ will be updated to support the use of mobile phones,” the warning explained.
“Therefore, people are asked not to trust such information and we ask for cooperation not to send or share such information on various social media channels, and for the public to receive information from the Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by following www.mfa.go.th or call 02 2035000,” the warning advised.
The public can follow and reporting fake news clues through various channels of the Anti-Fake News Center at Line : @antifakenewscenter Website : https://www.antifakenewscenter.com and a telephone channel to call the hotline GCC 1111 ext. 87 24 hours a day
Chamnan Srisawad, Chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TAT), also called for people to register through the one official website.
“The opening of the country since Nov 1 is considered a good sign and tourists have started coming in. The rest will continue to come slowly, building confidence in travelling to Thailand,” he said.
Mr Chamran explained that the aim was to have single channels of communication for the public to create an official “Once Voice Message” so all tourists know the same information at the same time.
“Because today, even the word ‘Thailand Pass’ has people going to register domain names. This misleads tourists, even though registration to enter Thailand according to the Thailand Pass project must be registered through https://tp.consular.go.th only,” he said.
The Phuket News notes that since the warning was issued ThaiandPass.org has updated its home page to specifically explain that it is not a government website and not related to the official Thailand Pass registration system.
“This is not the official website for the Thailand Pass system,” the website now reads.
“For the official website please enter https://tp.consular.go.th/,” it adds.
“This website is designed to give information about the Thailand Pass system and help tourists understand and prepare better for their visit in Thailand. It is not the official Thailand Pass website and has no affiliation with any government agency. The Thailand Pass registration can only be made at the official government operated website – tp.consular.go.th,” the website explains.