The Tourism Department is helping victims of fraudulent and illegal tours to Japan to file civil lawsuits, as total damages now exceed 4 million baht.

A travel page called Japon Japan on Facebook received complaints for defrauding travellers, claiming to book services such as trains, flights and hotels in Japan, though the bookings were not delivered as promised following payment.

The Tourism Department has opened a channel for victims to file complaints.

The department has also gathered information on the owner of the social media page and is planning an investigation.

The agency has monitored similar cases involving travel-based social media, as many of them are not registered as tour companies, despite claiming to act as travel agents for customers on platforms, the department said.

Some operators accused of misconduct repeatedly launch new social media pages to continue services, even after closing previous pages and losing clients, the department added.

The department said that selling tour services through social media, including group trip planning or package tours for profit without a licence, is illegal. The operator may be subject to a two-year jail term, a fine of 500,000 baht, or both.

The Thai Travel Agents Association said that in recent years there have been more instances of travel social media pages cheating tourists, as many of them are not registered companies and are unlicensed.