Something strange has happened recently, and it’s got to do with computers and the internet in Thailand. Generally, the internet here is pretty open and free – if you’re not into distributing or watching hardcore porn, selling illegal items or services or insulting the Monarchy, there’s very little you can’t do (most of the websites that are blocked are pornographic or political in nature – ironic considering the ubiquitous prostitution and political protests in Bangkok, but I digress). However, things are starting to change. It all kicked off in April 2007, when some twit uploaded a video to youtube that was offensive to the much-loved Thai King, which resulted in a blanket ban in Thailand for the site. A few months later, a brand new cyber crime law was passed, which gave the authorities some pretty sweeping powers, allowing them to “control, obstruct and prevent information that might affect national security, including the banning of websites deemed as such.” Recently, a friend of mine who has some pretty serious IT credentials said that he’s heard that the Thai government is installing some heavy-duting ‘sniffing’ machines to monitor what goes on online… it all sounds pretty Bush-ian to me.
What’s funny is that this kind of conflicts with what former telecom minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said in this excellent SEAPA article: “The aim of blocking is not to prevent people from viewing the offensive clips – because what happens is, they’ll just get angry about them – but rather to make a stand that this should not be done.” This begs the question – if you aren’t interested in blocking people from viewing material – and you make your point that looking at bad stuff shouldn’t be done – why all the censorship? Although, to be fair, his credibility wasn’t helped much by this funny/depressing article that said he doesn’t find the internet to be of much use anyway. Huh.
Anyway, I noticed something strange last week. I, uh, accidentally found myself on a porn site that used to be blocked, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked just fine. I checked a few others, and lo and behold, more tee-tees and ha-has than I could shake a stick at! But I was suspicious. Completely reversing a ban of contraband websites doesn’t seem very likely, especially when you consider the total lack of press coverage. Was this some sort of ploy? Bait?
A few days ago, my suspicions were piqued again when I, due to a cancelled meeting, was cornered into using the handy but not free wi-fi service at a Bangkok Starbucks. After paying 150 baht for 1 hour, I logged in, and saw this:
I had never seen a screen like that before when paying for wi-fi at Starbucks or any other location in Thailand. Clearly, the cyber cops were still busy building their little firewall up… but to what end? I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this issue.
I saw the same page at a KSC hotspot too. Its a provision in the law that attempts to put a name behind every IP address.
I still seriously doubt the idiot Thai bureaucrats are able to track our internet use, as I just simply put a fake name and fake email on the registration page. The ISP simply needs a record to keep for 60 days, doesn’t need to check out.
And what about the blockage of Google’s blogspot.com? That’s pretty suspicious.
http://facthai.wordpress.com/data/ – keep’s pretty good tabs on what is getting blocked in this country.
And paying 150 bath per hour at Starbucks???? That’s the real crime here.
The thing that gets me about that registration screen is that it pops up right after you’ve entered your username and your password and asks you to enter in your login and password AGAIN.
You might enjoy the poster of Thaksin and wife that I posted on my blog.