Thailand To Build A Firewall To Block 'offensive' Websites

[Bangyai]

Thailand firewall to block 'offensive' websites

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) plans to spend about 100 million to 500 million baht to build a gateway to block websites with contents defaming the royal institution. ICT Minister Mun Patanotai said exactly 86% of those websites are from foreign countries. He said his Ministry will give more attention to websites violating lese majeste laws than pornographic, obscene, and terrorist websites. According to the minister, thousands of the websites have been found to have information offending the monarchy, but they could not be revealed because Internet users would visit them once they are known. The minister added the more such websites are suppressed, the more they grow, but police will continue to penalise the offenders nonetheless. Prime Minister and Defence Minister Somchai Wongsawat had discussed this with the intelligence units, the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) and the Communications Authority of

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=131678

Hmmm, seems spending money on this sort of thing is nothing new. A report here of 600 million being allocated to shore up the countrys image following the coup d'etat and resultant political termoil. So is that a total of over 1000 million or are we talking about the same thing ???

http://www.bangkokpost.com/021008_News/02Oct2008_news24.php

[h90]

They KNOW EXACTLY 86% are over seas.... exactly HOW do they know 86%?

Either from Somchia's fortune teller from up north or some mysterious figure that appeared in his dream last night

No they took the invoices.....

As Thaksin is behind many of this crap he must know if he ordered it inside or outside Thailand.

[Pierrot]

In an other thread, a well known member of this forum said :

"spreading the news of it is a worthwhile endeavor, in my opinion.

It (an internet forum) is not something that was available when I lived through the regime of his predecessor despot Marcos, which was a shame, as so much of it was not made public.

Welcome to the Information Age... Don't forget to buckle up... "

I'm really surprised, and very disappointed, by his position in this thread. If you start negociating you freedom of expresion depending on the people in power, you're really undermining your position, don't you think ?

[AlKing]

And why is internetporn such a bad thing? Rather having criminals home jerking off, than out on the streets letting their anger lose?

Why bother censoring porn when anyone can just wander down to their local redlight / house of ill repute and see it live?

Senator Conroy is trying to introduce mandatory ISP level content

filters for all Australian internet users. This will cost at least 40

million dollars to implement initially with large ongoing costs and:

I have met some of the Oz "internet police" and they said (and I quote) "Good luck!" :-)

Basically some political peanuts think it helps project an image of Integrity and Moral Fibre that appeals to certain segments of voters but it is futile. If you are serious about censoring the internet - turn it off!

PORN is not much of an issue here. Please read carefully (between the lines) what ICT really wants to stamp out. Who do you think benefits from all these?

Edited October 29, 2008 by AlKing

[sriracha john]

And why is internetporn such a bad thing? Rather having criminals home jerking off, than out on the streets letting their anger lose?

Why bother censoring porn when anyone can just wander down to their local redlight / house of ill repute and see it live?

PORN is not much of an issue here. Please read carefully (between the lines) what ICT really wants to stamp out.

the "firewall" will be used to block whatever they want it to block...

UPDATE: 500 Million Baht firewall may block 1,000 websites

The ICT Ministry is to introduce an internet gateway system to block websites containing lese majeste content. ICT Minister Mun Patanotai will also hold a meeting with webmasters today to discuss measures to suppress lese majeste material. The gateway system, which could cost between 100 and 500 million baht, could also be used to block other websites considered inappropriate, such as those of terrorist groups or selling pornography.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=131692

[pete_r]

UPDATE: 500 Million Baht firewall may block 1,000 websites

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=131692

That title makes website blocking look rather expensive... 500,000 Bahts per website?

[Cuban]

So popular worldwide sites that are currently blocked due to 'certain' content include:

Blogspot

Soc.Culture.Thai

You Tube

Wikipedia

The last of which includes the line: "He was credited with facilitating Thailand's transition to democracy in the 1990s"

I see that one element of democracy is "...freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential..."

It's not just the particular issue that they will be able to block for the few years reamaining - but have the firewall in place for the following years, The New Dark Ages?

First it will be 'the issue' then the PAD, then articles about the Som Tum.....

[HorseDoctor]

That money would be spent better on inproving the network infrastructure and external cables. Bad excuse to use His Majesty on this... I wonder what he would say, if they even asked him? I did not know, that there were so many websites out there, "Hating" the King of Thailand? And why is internetporn such a bad thing? Rather having criminals home jerking off, than out on the streets letting their anger lose?

I really hope that their plan will fail... And - Have they never heard of proxies? Internet censurship never works as long as their are smarter people working against it (and there always is). Money wasted, and a sad step in the wrong direction.... Thailand, oh Thailand, you are so off track

Agreed , but really I think most porn viewers are just horny, really nothing crimnal about that .... yet.

[think_too_mut]

There are 30 people (Mods) on this site that are watching us not to say something that is against the forum rule of not discussing Thai Royal Family.

And we all more or less gladly accept that.

The Economist may be banned from Thailand. They had an article about that Lesse Majeste law.

When I posted another article, it had a clickable link that did not exist in the hard copy I had read on the train.

10 minutes later, a Mod here removed the source article (with that clickable link) and warned me to be careful what I post.

Since then, I censor The Economist first.

Since we, foreigners in Thailand, do the censorship, what's our problem when the government of Thailand do that themselves, over their own territory?

Edited October 29, 2008 by think_too_mut

[cmsally]

At some point you just have to accept that free speech and discussion is not welcome here in Thailand.

I doubt that internet filtering would change that too much as the situation already exists.

I would imagine that this latest move is a bargaining chip on the part of the govt. As it was Anupong who started off with the complaints about things being said etc.

So far there seems to be a bit of a stalemate from each side in public, but I would imagine a lot going on behind the scenes. Be interesting to see if the 3 month timeline exists we are now almost into third month.

[haltes]

The thing is that you can talk about anything just by using irony and imply the oposite of what you mean so how the hel_l are they going to police these sites (especially the sites in English)

e.g. John Doe is a really really really good person who never ever has any problems at all and his theory is not all complete balderdash at all, not at all, not in any way, shape or form.

Stifling criticism in the long run is more dangerous than the criticism itself.

[AlKing]

I am sure that SameSkyBook will also be banned. It is a Thai website hosted overseas. Many Thai express their view here.

[hammered]

At some point you just have to accept that free speech and discussion is not welcome here in Thailand.

I doubt that internet filtering would change that too much as the situation already exists.

I would imagine that this latest move is a bargaining chip on the part of the govt. As it was Anupong who started off with the complaints about things being said etc.

So far there seems to be a bit of a stalemate from each side in public, but I would imagine a lot going on behind the scenes. Be interesting to see if the 3 month timeline exists we are now almost into third month.

Government supporters consist of those who want to play within the system - the majority - and those who want to play outside the system. There is obviously a bit of a divide and I doubt the former can control the latter, so it may be that the majority in the government dont mind a bit of shutting up of one section of their support who do have the ability to turn off their electoral base.

Nobody seems sure on the three month timline but it seems maybe feeling is moving against it exisiting. Not long to wait now anyway.

The pinacle of freedom of speech in Thailand was the mid to late 90's and very early 00's. It wasnt pefect of course but was a lot different from now not just in terms of legal freedom, and measured freedom but also in terms of people being able to say different things to each other without fear of a beating or worse. We are a long way from that now and wont get back there for a long time. Interesting artcle in the A-Times that mentions how Thailand has been passed by Indonesia and Philippines in terms of democratic development in ASEAN. Thinking back the end of the last millenium and the early Thaksin years when Thailand was held up as a model of democracy in SE Asia. Things have changed.

[bangon04]

The thing is that you can talk about anything just by using irony and imply the oposite of what you mean so how the hel_l are they going to police these sites (especially the sites in English)

e.g. John Doe is a really really really good person who never ever has any problems at all and his theory is not all complete balderdash at all, not at all, not in any way, shape or form.

Stifling criticism in the long run is more dangerous than the criticism itself.

The 14% of offenders identified as coming from within Thailand's borders are absolutely certain to be foreigners living in the country, for the simple reason that no Thai citizen would ever be capable of a negative thought , let alone deed , on the subject of the national institutions of Thailand, as as we all know, moral decline is a symptom of allowing too much influence of foreigners in the country.

Therefore the firewall can be specifically designed to combat websites using a foreign language, not Thai.

You mean like this?

[oceano]

china firewall......i think if will happen this time all of us will go HOME!

hblog.makezine.com/archive/2008/10/china_channel_firefox_add.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

[animatic]

Freedom of thought doesn't win your side SURE elections; MUST be dangerous.

[Pierrot]

Just stated the obvious that the firewall can be used for any purpose.... as stated by the article.

but I'm still left curious why you think this...

I'm really surprised, and very disappointed, by his position in this thread

Yes, the obvious. I guess I was expecting a stronger condemnation of the proposed censorship

[Pierrot]

Freedom of thought doesn't win your side SURE elections; MUST be dangerous.

That's what our PAD friends are telling us for the past few months. You're not paying attention, are you ?

[TAWP]

Pierrot>> Your argument is dishonest and typical of you.

Look around, many people oppose any censorship. Even those that aren't PAD supporters but repeatedly gets labeled as such by you and your 'friends' but I suppose it doesn't count.

[Pierrot]

Pierrot>> Your argument is dishonest and typical of you.

Look around, many people oppose any censorship. Even those that aren't PAD supporters but repeatedly gets labeled as such by you and your 'friends' but I suppose it doesn't count.

Respectfully disagree. Dishonest and typical of people who post in this forum. I just try to fit in

[Seneque]

Internet does not work at all ... (how patient can u be to download stuff here) in thailand except downtown the main cities (bkk and chiangmai) ... so why spend so much money to block a system that does not work anyway ???

I think this is a smokescreen to divert 500 Mil in someone's pocket and to make it look good with serious intentions ...

just like the other 500 Mil to 'rebuild' thailand image ....

[Bangyai]

I am sure that SameSkyBook will also be banned. It is a Thai website hosted overseas. Many Thai express their view here.

I think this site has already been closed ? It was the victim of a ' cyber attack ' by unknown people who flooded the site with LM comments forcing the ISP to discontinue its service. The site was popular amongst Thai intellectuals as a forum for discussing the current political problems. Some of the posts hit a raw nerve somewhere and the site moderator could not delete the following torrent of LM remarks quick enough to avoid closure and prosecution.

[animatic]

Pierrot>> Your argument is dishonest and typical of you.

Look around, many people oppose any censorship. Even those that aren't PAD supporters but repeatedly gets labeled as such by you and your 'friends' but I suppose it doesn't count.

Respectfully disagree. Dishonest and typical of people who post in this forum. I just try to fit in

What a lovely 'Group Flame' there.

You know how to endear yourself.

So we should all be TYPICAL, and sit around the campfire and

be intellectually dishonest, in Pierpont's opinion,

like each and very other TV member... who disagrees.

Oh I feel so UNCLEAN now.....oohhh shudder

slapped with a 'typically dishonest' lable.

Woe is me, and my 7th son of my 7th son.

It's ALL PAD's fault; they MUST have cleaned

and washed our collective minds to incorrect, but antiseptic and didactic purity.

Edited October 29, 2008 by animatic

[animatic]

I am sure that SameSkyBook will also be banned. It is a Thai website hosted overseas. Many Thai express their view here.

I think this site has already been closed ? It was the victim of a ' cyber attack ' by unknown people who flooded the site with LM comments forcing the ISP to discontinue its service. The site was popular amongst Thai intellectuals as a forum for discussing the current political problems. Some of the posts hit a raw nerve somewhere and the site moderator could not delete the following torrent of LM remarks quick enough to avoid closure and prosecution.

Gee!

I wonder who would want to prevent 'Thai Intelectuals '

from discussing ways to get the country out of this mess?

By making them APPEAR disloyal as a way to shut them up?

Who has tried to muzzle the press for several years if they disagreed with him?

Who wants to keep this split going? Who wants to cause chaos,

and general anarchy and unfairness for his own aims?

Who has a big PR reach to manipulate the body politic,

through disinformation and ignorance?

Edited October 29, 2008 by animatic

[Pierrot]

Gee!

I wonder who would want to prevent 'Thai Intelectuals '

from discussing ways to get the country out of this mess? Sondhi

By making them APPEAR disloyal as a way to shut them up? Sondhi

Who has tried to muzzle the press for several years if they disagreed with him? Sondhi

Who wants to keep this split going? Who wants to cause chaos,

and general anarchy and unfairness for his own aims? Sondhi

Who has a big PR reach to manipulate the body politic,

through disinformation and ignorance? Sondhi

Sondhi ?

This one wasn't very difficult. You want to try an other one ?

Edited October 29, 2008 by Pierrot

[animatic]

Gee!

I wonder who would want to prevent 'Thai Intelectuals '

from discussing ways to get the country out of this mess? Sondhi

By making them APPEAR disloyal as a way to shut them up? Sondhi

Who has tried to muzzle the press for several years if they disagreed with him? Sondhi

Who wants to keep this split going? Who wants to cause chaos,

and general anarchy and unfairness for his own aims? Sondhi

Who has a big PR reach to manipulate the body politic,

through disinformation and ignorance? Sondhi

This one wasn't very difficult. You want to try an other one ?

Au contraire mon cher, get real, and intellectualy honest too, if you prefer,

Sondhi was one of the victims of the one I have in mind, billion baht suits,

and economic pressure on newspapers, and general stiffling of ALL dissent

Dr. T. still is trying this one on for size.

"I AM the government you can't criticize ME!"

Consistancy is the hobgoblin of little minds.

I've changed mine, but you seem to prefer the one track your blinkers allow.

Whoaa Nellie!

Edited October 29, 2008 by animatic

[chrisspursbkk1]

I wouldn't worry to much, it will be easy to bypass as it is in China.

[MrSnrang]

I wouldn't worry to much, it will be easy to bypass as it is in China.

Even so, it's not the government's place to try to block sites.

Thaksinites love censorship.

[OxfordWill]

Hey if australia thinks it's a good idea (well actually, most australians probably dont, or wouldn't', had they the knowledge to make a proper judgement) then we can't exactly blame Thailand.

[Pierrot]

Sondhi was one of the victims ...

Sondhi a victim ? Do you know who Sondhi is? He is a crook of the worst kind.

When people will realize? It's true, there is one person who's responsible for all the evil things the PAD is talking about, but this man is standing on their stage, this man is Sondhi !

Edited October 29, 2008 by Pierrot