The Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration has filed defamation and Computer Crime Act complaints against Mr. Somchai and two IT experts after they held a press conference alleging that the department was hacked, causing the voter registration data of 53 million people to be leaked and sold on the dark web.
On 14 Apr 2026 GMT+7, reporters reported that on 10 Apr, Mr. Narucha Kosa Civilize, Director-General of the Department of Provincial Administration under the Ministry of Interior, authorized Mr. Jeerawat Prommao to file legal complaints for defamation by advertising, spreading false information causing public alarm, violations under the Computer Crime Act, and other related criminal offenses against Mr. Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, former Election Commissioner, along with Mr. Tamthee Sukchotirat, Director of D-Vote at Sripatum University, and Mr. Thanarat Kuwattanaphan, CEO of Domecloud, specialists in software and blockchain technology. The Bang Phlat Police Station under the Metropolitan Police Bureau in Bangkok received the complaint and registered it.
Regarding the complaint, on 9 Apr, the authorized representative discovered a website publishing a headline stating “Somchai and 2 IT experts expose voter data being sold on the dark web.” The news summarized that the voter registration list is one of the key data sets normally inaccessible to the general public.
However, it claimed that now everyone can access it and that it has been sold on the dark web for a long time, leaked from the voter verification system of the Department of Provincial Administration for over three weeks before the department fixed the issue on 14 Feb 2026. It also alleged that the list of 53 million registered voters under the department’s care was leaked and that the department’s system was hacked. These claims are inaccurate and have caused damage to the department.