Bangkok: The Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with its network partners, is creating a network of young leaders to combat human trafficking and cybercrime.
According to Thai News Agency, the Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with Thai and US partners, is launching the 'Training of Trainers Project' to create a network of young leaders to combat human trafficking and cybercrime.
Police General Thatchai Pitanilabutr, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police and Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Center, presided over the award ceremony and presented certificates of appreciation to a group of young people from Bangkok Patana International School. The students presented and developed a creative and practical cybercrime prevention project with the potential for scaling up to other schools and communities.
The Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, Our Rescue Thailand, and Bangkok Patana School, organized the Youth Against Scams program. This initiative aims to raise awareness among students at Bangkok Patana School and cultivate student leaders who will then disseminate this awareness to their peers, parents, and school personnel. The program involves practical training to develop young people into "Youth Ambassadors"-youth ambassadors dedicated to preventing and combating human trafficking. It focuses on enhancing knowledge, leadership skills, and building a network of young people who will play a vital role in strengthening social resilience against scams.
This significant collaboration reflects the commitment of all sectors-law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, educational institutions, and international partners-to create a learning space and foster youth participation in addressing human trafficking, a transnational crime impacting global security and safety. Under this project, participating youth will have the opportunity to learn through practical activities, brainstorming, and real-world situational analysis to collaboratively explore solutions to human trafficking and various forms of online fraud. The focus is on enabling them to apply, share, and disseminate the acquired knowledge and experience to their peers, communities, and the wider society.
The Deputy Commissioner General of Police stated that the award-winning projects reflect the potential and creativity of the youth in applying knowledge from the 'Training of Trainers Project' to develop practical prototypes. One of the key projects is 'PhishGuard,' a web application learning platform integrated with social media, allowing users to learn and practice identifying cyber threats through simulated scenarios. This enhances skills in recognizing various types of online fraud and enables effective application in daily life. Furthermore, the projects promote cybersecurity awareness among parents and communities. The youth organized activities to educate parents, personnel, and the general public about common threats such as text and link scams, Mule accounts, and remote access hijacking. This resulted in participants gaining a better understanding and modifying their internet usage behavior to be more secure.
In addition, the youth ambassadors presented an interesting project: 'Building a Safer Digital Future,' which focuses on building digital resilience for parents and working adults through education about emerging cyber threats such as relationship scams (Pig Butchering Scam), AI voice and video cloning, and attacks via fake websites, as well as prevention and response strategies, in order to raise awareness and reduce losses from online crime.
Pol. Gen. Thatchai expressed his admiration for the dedication and creative energy of the youth, emphasizing that youth are a vital force in building resilience in society and a key driving force in preventing and combating human trafficking and cybercrime in the digital age. The 'Training of Trainers Project' does not end with this workshop; all participating networks aim to further develop and expand the knowledge, model activities, and innovations generated by the youth to schools, educational institutions, and communities throughout Thailand. This will create a network of capable young leaders who can sustainably transfer knowledge and build resilience in society. The Royal Thai Police and its domestic and international partners believe that the power of today's youth is crucial in creating a safe society tomorrow, and that collaboration between the government, civil society, educational institutions, and the public will be a vital mechanism for effectively and sustainably preventing and combating human t rafficking and cybercrime.