Internet Freedom: Thailand drops as Freedom House gives damning assessment - Iceland top, China bottom

[webfact]

Picture: Sanook

 

The latest figures on "Freedom on the Net" have been announced in an annual survey by Washington based NGO Freedom House.

 

Sanook reported that Thailand got only 36 out of 100 according to many criteria and this ranked the country among those without internet freedom. 

 

Thailand's rating has dropped three points since 2017 and there was a "clear limit to freedom on the internet" ever since street protests began last year.

 

Online comments coming under scrutiny, use of the emergency decree and control of the press all contributed to the low score.

 

But it could have been worse - Myanmar was the third worst in the world with a score of 17. 

 

But Thailand still lagged behind neighbors Malaysia (58) and Singapore (54). The Philippines had a rating of 65.

 

Top in the world was Iceland with 96 followed by tech savvy Estonia with 94.

 

China finished bottom registering zero on many parameters. Iran with 16 was the only other of the 70 countries assessed under 20.

 

Others included:

 

Australia 75

US 75

UK 78

France 78

Germany 79 and 

Canada 87.

 

The US dropped for the fifth consecutive year. Worldwide ratings dropped for the 11th year. 

 

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[JonnyF]

This junta really is the gift that keeps on giving.

[Rampant Rabbit]

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

This junta really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Only  problem is you  have to bend over to receive that gift

[smedly]

Beware - Prayuth's "NEW NORMAL" his wet dream

 

Control Oppression and Power COP

 

The China N' Korea model

[Misterwhisper]

This is important news.

Why hasn't there been an NNT report about it?

(I think I know the answer.)

[ftpjtm]

34 minutes ago, webfact said:

China finished bottom registering zero on many parameters.

Prayut has his sights set on challenging China for this honor. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

Should do wonders for Thailand's 5G digital hub dreams.

[tonray]

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

[rbkk]

If you see them be sure to thank them personally.

[thanaka]

2 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Should do wonders for Thailand's 5G digital hub dreams.

it literally doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. Also important to note many people use VPN already so it makes no difference where they are.

 

All I know is that I have a reliable 1000mbs fiber connection here on the land, while in my home country I could get the same only in a city

[rbkk]

9 minutes ago, thanaka said:

it literally doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. Also important to note many people use VPN already so it makes no difference where they are.

 

All I know is that I have a reliable 1000mbs fiber connection here on the land, while in my home country I could get the same only in a city

The story is not about the speeds available. It's about what you can say freely without censorship or fake a/c's like the image above shows. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

54 minutes ago, thanaka said:

it literally doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. Also important to note many people use VPN already so it makes no difference where they are.

 

All I know is that I have a reliable 1000mbs fiber connection here on the land, while in my home country I could get the same only in a city

Not referring to raw data speed...talking about the speed of the creative iEconomy the Thai authorities are always talking up...limited freedom of thought doesn't help these plans.

[tigerfeet]

1 hour ago, thanaka said:

it literally doesn't matter for the vast majority of people. Also important to note many people use VPN already so it makes no difference where they are.

 

All I know is that I have a reliable 1000mbs fiber connection here on the land, while in my home country I could get the same only in a city

Thats great but unfortunately most TVs TV boxes phones and computers only support 100 Mbps 

[jacko45k]

19 minutes ago, tigerfeet said:

Thats great but unfortunately most TVs TV boxes phones and computers only support 100 Mbps 

Then how does my laptop give me a speed test result of 500/500... and my phone 250/350?

[Golden Triangle]

This faux government hate people complaining about how bloody useless they, trouble is they don't do anything the populace can praise them for. ???? 

[metisdead]

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[Burma Bill]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"clear limit to freedom on the internet"

Not surprising with archaic defamation and lase majeste laws, also the suppression of pro-democracy and anti-military/establishment comments!!

[spidermike007]

The people have to make a statement, the people have to remove the 250 crony senators, and the people have to find a way to turn this nation around, and drag it back from the stone age of dinosaur leadership. What ever happened with your promises to root out your bad apple immigration guys, on the border? They likely let in thousands, to line their greedy pockets. Do you care at all, on any level, about anything other than your own enrichment, and the vintage of ridiculously expensive champagne you will have this evening? And what about your promises to root out the corrupt cops? Forgot, huh?

 

The more flac the people can give this toxic regime, the better. Any way to show disapproval, any way to show dissatisfaction, any way to show how much they are despised is very healthy for society right now. Hopefully, they will only escalate. The car mobs are a brilliant idea. The crooked and totally compromised cops cannot cite them for any of the drummed up, totally unjust, repressive (covid social distancing) and nonsensical laws. 

 

Prayuth, Pratin, Anutin, Phiphat must go. These guys are toxic, corrosive, corrupt, ineffective, incompetent, untrustworthy, very bad for the nation, and virtually assure a rotten future for the nation, a drop to 75th place in GDP, and increasing irrelevance. They have already turned Thailand from the tiger of SE Asia, to a sorry, rabid, whiny, anemic alley cat. 

Let them have it. Let them know how much we hate them. Go for it. Victory to the youth! Down with the regressive dinosaurs. 

 

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, JonnyF said:

This junta really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Or taking?

[Exilerunner]

6 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

This is important news.

Why hasn't there been an NNT report about it?

(I think I know the answer.)

This is old news - I don't remember but there was an international assessment a few months back that showed Thailand is on the bottom of the internet freedom with only Iran, China and North Korea being worse

[Gottfrid]

6 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Only  problem is you  have to bend over to receive that gift

As the gift is of such insignificant value, I think I will pass on that one.

[Isaan sailor]

And just to celebrate the low rating—the mighty Teflon Baht has triumphantly returned—rocketing up 1% from today’s lows on the USD.

[TigerandDog]

6 hours ago, tonray said:

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

so that's what happened to it.

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, tonray said:

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

I'm using the Brave browser, and if you highlight the Thai text a tiny G icon appears and if you click that you get the translation. It only works for a limited number of words but is probably good enough for a couple of short sentences. And it appears to be very accurate.

[Bangkok Barry]

10 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

6 hours ago, tonray said:

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

so that's what happened to it.

A word in a post about the Thai royal family was mis-translated in an unfortunate way, so that was it. No more translations until they got their house in order. Which they haven't, and maybe they can't be bothered to pussyfoot around Thai sensitivities and so it might be gone for good. Wasn't up to much anyway. See my post above though, and it works very well. It uses Google translate.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, thanaka said:

in my home country

That mysterious home country again. Perhaps this article helps to explain the paranoia and why people refuse to reveal where they come from.

[Keesters]

6 hours ago, tonray said:

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

It never was that good. I mostly reviewed incomprehensible. Google do a far better job with much still to be improved on. 

[drgoon]

7 hours ago, tonray said:

Still waiting for Facebook to grow a pair and turn Thai to English translation back on...and waiting....and waiting...and waiting

Why did that happen??

 

Ok I got it now. As per the posts above

Edited September 23, 2021 by drgoon

[Salerno]

8 minutes ago, drgoon said:

Why did that happen??

 

53 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

A word in a post about the Thai royal family was mis-translated in an unfortunate way, so that was it. No more translations until they got their house in order.

 

[lesmac]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Then how does my laptop give me a speed test result of 500/500... and my phone 250/350?

2.5 and 5G, my boxes are all 5G so run at max sped I pay for