Mobiles Ban For Cinemas

[jstumbo]

Would rather though they ban the 30 minutes of advertising the theaters receive money that they show before the movies. Getting out of hand.

I always show up ~20 minutes late for the movie so that I do not have to watch the ads.

[TEFLMike]

I spend a lot of time in AOL UK News areas. It was in the Uk News Debate area of AOL this morning,, being discussed.

As per usual, the Government , apparently launched this yesterday afternoon, prior to today's National Local Elections Day. They do this many times as general focus is on other things as far as the public and Government staff, are concerned.

I have, as yet, to log into AOL, as I have been busy all afternoon, in order to se if there is any more information regarding this.

As for Scotland, they now have their own Sottish parliament and many of their laws are not now decided by Westminster.

I would not have posted this, if, for any reason of unsurity, however, the sources as regards UK news in areas I subscribe to, are , usually not far off the mark .

It is a case of wait and see what transpires after the May Bank Holiday.

[huma79]

This "news item" sounds bunk to me.. I think something got lost in translation. I finally found the news item on the Nation after a lot of searching, but couldn't find it anywhere else on the internet. Does anyone have a link to the story in a Thai language newspaper?

I believe the part about the IPAA (lobby of 1300 US companies) urging the Thai government to make the law, but come on.. the rest of the story is just hype. Why this was posted as breaking news is beyond me..

[IAmMarchHare]

I spend a lot of time in AOL UK News areas. It was in the Uk News Debate area of AOL this morning,, being discussed.

As per usual, the Government , apparently launched this yesterday afternoon, prior to today's National Local Elections Day. They do this many times as general focus is on other things as far as the public and Government staff, are concerned.

I have, as yet, to log into AOL, as I have been busy all afternoon, in order to se if there is any more information regarding this.

As for Scotland, they now have their own Sottish parliament and many of their laws are not now decided by Westminster.

I would not have posted this, if, for any reason of unsurity, however, the sources as regards UK news in areas I subscribe to, are , usually not far off the mark .

It is a case of wait and see what transpires after the May Bank Holiday.

Google turns up nothing on this. Even AOL doesn't seem to have this article.

[dolvitius]

It seems like some cinemas in Bangkok have already started to implement some measures: this is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I was going to watch a movie at the Esplanade Cineplex, and I noticed that, at the cinema entrance, the staff was asking some movie goers to leave their mobile phone at the entrance. Each phone they were taking was tagged and then placed in some shelves at the entrance. They were giving another tag with the same number to the phone owners for them to collect back the phone after the movie. When I entered the cinema, they asked me to leave my phone. I replied that I would only be able to do so if they would give me 25,000 bahts in cash in exchange. I explained them that this was a valuable phone (the PDA phone I was carrying that day was worth that price indeed!), and that I would return them the money in exchange for the phone after the movie. They smiled at me and told me it was impossible. Some kind of cinema manager then came to me and explained that this was a new policy and that this measure was to prevent the making of any illegal film copy by cinema patrons. I explained him in return that I had no intention to "film" the movie with my phone and that, according to my own policy, I would only give my phone to the cinema staff in exchange for a security cash deposit equivalent to the phone value. Of course, he disagreed with me. I then told him that, in that case, I would ask for a full refund of my cinema tickets and I would watch the movie in another theatre. He finally smiled at me and let me, my friend, and our mobile phones get in without any further discussion. 

Moreover, I had seen a similar procedure taking place last year at the premiere screening of "Muay Thai" at the SF World cinema: in the same way, they collected all mobile phones at the cinema entrance and gave them back to their owners at the exit.

[Ieyuhrah]

It would be like the government to threaten penny-ante players like LOS because they do not have the testosterone producing glands to stand up to Communist China.

[warmwater7]

thats good news ,now my pirated dvd's wont have any unwanted ringtones in dailogue

thank you.

[Seneque]

lol, thanks for this. pure comedy. you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

its never going to happen but they should at least think for a second first before they make ridiculous announcements like this.

The drama is that they actually thought about it before making the annoncement (destroying thailand image ... what a farce !)

[chuck_s]

Take your phone before going into the movies by one of the staff members, much like they do at the U.S. Embassies.

But, how would they deal with one of them old Nokia phones?

Another bright idea these people come up with next.

[burman]

Europe complains about the fake luxury consumer goods. They would be complaining even more if these products were sold as widely as movies, music and software. The luxury consumer products companies from Europe rip people off with the high prices. There is no reason that a handbag should cost $10,000+. It is only because of the name. The bag probably cost very little to develop and very little to produce. Where as software costs a lot to develop, but very little to produce on the CDs. So there is a justification for the price to be high for software, but none for the Gucci bag.

And what about the huge amount of money they spend making 'Gucci' a luxury name?

[Payboy]

Pirate dvds come from China or Malaysia

they're better quality than the locally made ones...

Edited May 2, 2008 by Payboy

[jayjayjayjay]

how on earth do they think they will enforce that???

bloody good way to put movie theatres out of business, nobody, absolutely nobody is holding my mobile phone, not even for 2 minutes let alone 2 hours

[burman]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

[Prudent_rabbit]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

I believe its the last comment that have people worried....." get it back 5 minutes after you come out"

They probably have a notice somewhere pinned up that states a) that they are not responsible for your personal items or is limited to 500 baht

[TAWP]

So what do you want the Thai government to do? Shut down Pantip Plaza and similar places? That is what the U.S. want, but do we want it? Do you want to pay 30,000 Baht for your computer programs?

The removal of Pantip as a hub for pirated software wouldn't hurt me one bit. Besides, if I did indeed wanted to get any non-retail copies I very easily retrieve them from the same location as the American customers do. FTPs or torrent-sites.

[TAWP]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

Reality check: Most of the users here aren't American and therefor doesn't have an overly paranoid embassy to visit where one has to give up ones cellphone to be allowed entrance.

[quiksilva]

Any move which has the side effect of stopping Somchai shouting into his mobile phone during a movie has to be a good thing, surely?

[burman]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

Reality check: Most of the users here aren't American and therefor doesn't have an overly paranoid embassy to visit where one has to give up ones cellphone to be allowed entrance.

Reality check: I use the British embassy and they require you hand in your cellphone before entering the premises.

Edited May 2, 2008 by burman

[grantbkk]

I waited a day to cool off after reading about the proposed ban on mobile phones in theaters to combat high levels of intellectual-property rights (IPR) violations in Thailand. I thought the Deputy Commerce Minister would be censured or replaced by now for what could win him the Dumbest Idea of the Year Award. While I cooled my heals and watched for heads to roll over this I have been contacted by several people who wanted to know if this was some kind of elaborate May Fool’s Day joke. Now it appears this is real as no retraction has been published.

We know that the ministers and their underlings will talk to any reporter about anything if given the opportunity. It may be the media to blame for this by asking a mid-level functionary, “What’s happening?” My question is, Can our mobile phones film a video for 90 to 120 minutes with sound? Mine cannot and none of my friends can do it either. Lines are no fun. Ticket lines, snack lines, lines for the metal detector and now maybe check lines for you mobile phones. What happens when they lose your phone? Who is going to go to the movies to be subjected to this type of extraordinary security measure? Is the Commerce Ministry aware that pirated movies actually are received in the country online and uncut from places like China, Malaysia and the United States?

I think the Deputy Commerce Minister should think about what he saying before he blurts out that IPR violations have destroyed the country's image in the eyes of the international community. He is the one who is tearing down the image of Thailand while giving the world press something funny to write about. Someone in authority needs to assure the public that the government is working for the people and not for likes of Disney and Sony.

[TAWP]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

Reality check: Most of the users here aren't American and therefor doesn't have an overly paranoid embassy to visit where one has to give up ones cellphone to be allowed entrance.

Reality check: I use the British embassy and they require you hand in your cellphone before entering the premises.

And again, the majority of people here are neither American nor British. Face it, you are two large minorites.

I would never hand over my cellphone to anyone. It's annoying to keep track of it going through the scanner at airports all the time - and that is in a box and should never be touched be any of the guards.

Why should I have to hand over a cellphone because some monkey at the top comes up with an inane idea?

[A_Traveller]

^ before you get too carried away perhaps you should check with your own Embassy. I'm advised that increasingly many are requiring that 'electronic equipment' be retained at a secure point.

Regards

[TAWP]

I was there very recently, no need to 'check'.

[grantbkk]

^ before you get too carried away perhaps you should check with your own Embassy. I'm advised that increasingly many are requiring that 'electronic equipment' be retained at a secure point.

Regards

Dude! It's an embassy! We are talking about movie theaters here. This is a place to socialize, view new releases and eat snacks. No question there are places where mobile phones should not be used. Take an aircraft for instance. Since the 1980's we were told something to the effect that the plane may crash if your mobile is on. Now airlines have somehow found a way to make money off of these calls and surprise! We can make the calls now on an ever increasing number of aircraft. I really don't think mobiles should be used in theaters but to take away our stuff just isn't right. No one is getting carried away just discussing another stupid idea. In my humble opinion, anyone who supports this plan for the stated reasons given by a junior minister with questionable cognitive skills, probably either works for an entertainment conglomerate or is getting paid by one.

[tropo]

Is this April fool's day again?

If I were Thai, I would be very worried about how silly my government is.

We don't need a special day - everyday is April fool's day here.

[onethailand]

I have no problem handing in my phone at the embassy. There are plenty of good reasons for this, including noise, security, confidentiality, etc. and I know I will get it back.

The movie theater, however, is different - I have to pay to get in. Yes, there's a potential noise issue but I have yet to encounter it and I go weekly. Not a security issue. Not a confidentiality issue. I cannot film an entire movie on my phone. And there is no guarantee that my phone will not be tampered with.

The day I get asked to leave my mobile phone will be my last visit to that theater - and for sure I will leave with a bang.

Meanwhile, I think it's time we compared apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

[burman]

I was there very recently, no need to 'check'.

What embassy do you use TAWP?

I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to be standard practice for most embassies soon.

[TAWP]

Since I mention I'm Swedish in another few hundred posts...

[burman]

Apologies for not doing prior research on your posts TAWP.

[joker]

Sweetchariot,

I thought it was to stop thais being downright rude by keeping phones on in a place that we all pay money to watch a film and not listen to some thai saying

urgh

urgh

ka

ka

urgh

urgh

So bloody rude,and this is the real problem with thailand,so many people not thinking about other people.

[joker]

Sweetchariot,

I thought it was to stop thais being downright rude by keeping phones on in a place that we all pay money to watch a film and not listen to some thai saying

urgh

urgh

ka

ka

urgh

urgh

So bloody rude,and this is the real problem with thailand,so many people not thinking about other people.

TOTALY AGREE!