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

[ChrisKC]

9 hours ago, JonnyF said:

This junta really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Or more accurately, taking away!

[rbkk]

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

so that's what happened to it.

Yes. It was hilarious! The picture and text is still on Google but I can't link to it because HE won't allow a laugh at the expense of his wife. It was just a computer translation glitch but amusingly not seen as such by some. If nothing was said it would have been forgotten about by the next day, but no. SSShhhhh.

[Artisi]

11 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

No problem on computer, but screwed on phone. 

[Conquerbrqvilok]

I still can watch the Kamasutra and missionary videos just fine 

[inThailand]

15 hours ago, JonnyF said:

This junta really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Or is it

...the goons that keep on taking? 

[7700]

Within time, he may even start burning books.

[arithai12]

Frankly, looking around me, the thing that strikes me as the most disturbing thing with Internet in Thailand is the amount of time that people spend on it. While walking, while driving, while eating, while pi77ing in the toilets. Zombies is the word that comes to mind. 

As for the survey, I wonder if they considered "Freedom from unwanted stuff". Almost every page now has videos that I don't want to watch and I cannot stop,  and several ads and "follow me" and "subscribe" banners that occupy most of the space and that I need to click away before I can start reading what I actually want to read.

[elgenon]

China is worse than Burma???? hard to believe. I guess the government is not as tech savvy. But the will is there. 555

[Fairynuff]

Although it’s clearly getting worse this is nothing new. There’s never been much internet freedom here, now there’s less and no sign of any improvement.

[varun]

I think internet freedom is a relatively moot point from a technical aspect.

Sure, governments can implement blocks and firewalls to filter out sensitive content,

but those are precisely the type of blocks that VPN's are built to get around.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by varun

[johnarth]

facebook can not turn Thai to English back on until they have permission too, story is they got lazy and did not check an important message so they were told to turn it off, but of course that does not worry them in the least it is only us users that are missing out if there is another Facebook I would be happy to change

[Moo 2]

This is not a good reference for people wanting to visit Thailand.

[Burma Bill]

3 minutes ago, Moo 2 said:

This is not a good reference for people wanting to visit Thailand.

Yes indeed, especially if they are justified in wanting to create an adverse report on "Tripadvisor"!!

[bristolgeoff]

Everyone knows if u look up something in thailand online they are watching.if you type something naughty you will get a message and page blocked.Can not comment about china but i believe they are worse.So no wonder they come low in the ratings

[thanaka]

On 9/23/2021 at 12:45 PM, rbkk said:

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. 

I fail to understand in what way the current censorship would affect so many digital professionals that justifies saying it could hinder the development of a digital nomad hub. Journalism or opinion pieces sure but I'd argue that's not the vast majority of foreigners they want to attract to become a digital hub

 

Most of these professionals (designers, developers, administration workers) are looking for a fast and reliable infrastructure to work remotely. I don't see how censorship would affect that. Willing to change my opinion though if you provide me with a good reasoning

Edited September 24, 2021 by thanaka

[rbkk]

18 minutes ago, thanaka said:

I fail to understand in what way the current censorship would affect so many digital professionals that justifies saying it could hinder the development of a digital nomad hub. Journalism or opinion pieces sure but I'd argue that's not the vast majority of foreigners they want to attract to become a digital hub

 

Most of these professionals (designers, developers, administration workers) are looking for a fast and reliable infrastructure to work remotely. I don't see how censorship would affect that. Willing to change my opinion though if you provide me with a good reasoning

There's more than just the work angle. Example: Your downtime spent on Facebook with Somchai reading all your thoughts. No thanks.

[thanaka]

1 hour ago, rbkk said:

There's more than just the work angle. Example: Your downtime spent on Facebook with Somchai reading all your thoughts. No thanks.

On the internet you write with ink not with a pencil. Meaning it's not just erasable. How many stories are there where people dug out old stories, comments or posts others posted on their social media or other platforms to cancel them or report them directly to the company where they work at? Not even mentioning the background checks these companies do anyway. You always have to assume that if you write something online, others are able to see it. It can directly impact your real life whether you are in Thailand or in the western world

 

Also, as someone who knows the digital industry very well, I don't know anyone who lets their steam out on facebook because that's exactly the group that is already aware of the consequences. Most of them just want a chill life at the beach, good and comparably cheap infrastructure and proper visa solutions. So yeah I just doubt that censorship regarding Thai politics will be a deciding factor whether or not digital workers want to work from here. Not for the vast majority of them

Edited September 24, 2021 by thanaka