Thaksin Orders Control Of SIM Cards

[somtaamgaiyang]

Why would I want to receive or make any phone calls in a movie theater?    What happens when any normal person is watching a movie and notices that the signal meter is near 1 or 0?   They either go outside to make a call or they continue to watch the movie.   Very few will think they are being jammed.  As for the David Blaine street magic thing... I wouldn't really do it as that would be a quick way to get every other local kid with too much spare time and money to go out and buy one.    

And yes, I've seen super pissed off Thais.    Some hit golf balls, some go for a massage, others play some PS2.     I like all three vents personally.    

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea but that jammer goes out as far as 50 to 75 meters my friend. To me that is a bit of distance. However last report here I see that the government called it off. I wonder why?????

Simply a case of a businessman realising the implications for the sale of his SIM cards.

It is interesting in the rest of the world that when governments want to change the law they at least appear to try and research it, it's implications, the costs to the companies involved and the overall benefit to society. (I am not including the fox hunting law from the UK here).

This law was not passed because there was a rather important industry figure sitting in the consultation and he probably said it would be rather damaging to his business to make everyone show an ID card, register it, produce paper work which would push up his costs and reduce his profitability.

Can't possibly think who this industry insider would be. A fine example of Thai politics at work. Can't really say that the law about sellign booze in the supermarkets between 2 and 5 received quite the same industry, legal, social assessment.

[TimTang]

I don't think this is such a bad idea!

Mobile phones are used in allmost every bombing incident that doesn't involve a suicide bomber.

Buy controlling SIM cards, investigators can find out from phone records who's phone was used to placed the call and what phone was used to trigger the bomb.

This is exactly how Spanish autorities tracked down the Madrid bombers so quickly.

Anyone that doesn't plan to use their phone for unscrupulous reasons shouldn't feel threatened by this requirement and lives may even be saved in the future.

[brubo1]

What a load of hogwash!!!!!!

This idea smacks of Big Brother - they are not trying to get the foot in the door, they want the whole leg in there!

Security concerns? My guess would be that there are maybe 200 Million mobile phones in use throughout the world (maybe somebody knows the exact number?), and last year maybe 20(?) were used to trigger bombs - because of that everybody has to register their SIM!

I say bullsh** - let them find another way to increase security!

[patrickq]

Nothing to do with security, everything to do with control.

The Thai government is like most others throughout the world now, seeking access to everyone's personal life.

As several posts have said this will do absolutely nothing to make it safer, or prevent bombings.

Here in the UK we have to suffer the asinine Blair, as he brings in legislation to curtail our freedoms that we have had for centuries ... in law, if not in actuality.

The US has the imbecile Bush, who reckons you make the world safer if you murder people's kids.

Italy has the crook Berlusconi .... you get the picture.

Thailand has Thaksin, another corrupt self serving individual, furthering the global wide suppression of people.

It is important to realise that individual laws, such as this, are brought in usually as a reaction to 'terrorists', who are conveniently threatening our lives ... some are real, many are imaginary ... the end result is the same, another restriction on individual freedom ... it's like the frog in the pot of boiling water, before we know it these fools will have us well and truly trussed. So it is vital to look at the issue behind the news headline and ask what is really going on. None of which you'll find in the media, the worst being the so-called liberal or left press. In the UK we suffer The Independent and The Guardian, stalwart supporters of the status quo, whilst pretending otherwise, the BBC, a government propaganda mouthpiece, broadcasting 'impartially' to the world. Thankfully we have the internet, until such time as they see fit to censor that.

The greatest threat to everyone's security is the cabal of global leaders (the real terrorists), who seem keen to wage war and stuff their pockets with ill-gotten gains, while stuffing the already impoverished. One wonders why do we let them get away with it ... unfortunately a large number of people obviously don't care less.

End of rant! Smile :-)

[WilliamIV]

And if False ID cards become detectable ...

Terrorists need only give few thousand Baht to a TukTuk

driver to buy a SIM card for them.

If the Authorities ever confronted the Tuk Tuk Driver

he can say he accidently left his Mobile in a Public Toilet.

I see nothing wrong with honest people being "hassled" for their ID

- but it ain't the solution to Terrorists ...

[marquess]

According to The Nation, it looks like the whole thing could still be going ahead. Perhaps as early as next month for new purchasers of SIM cards. Apparently their is a provision in one of the laws that say that personal information can be gathered in the interests of national security.

I fully agree with the earlier poster, about the gradual erosion of personal freedoms by various leaders, in the interests of protecting us. The sad thing is that once any of the these provisions have been put in place, there are very rarely removed, even when the threat is no longer there.

[aletta]

Rather than regulating SIM cards,how about more stringent rules regarding the sale and storage of explosives.

[george]

Update:

Bombers can still use Malaysian SIM cards

NARATHIWAT: -- Separatist militants can use Malaysia's mobile phone system to perpetrate bomb attacks in eight districts of Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla, said a security source.

This would make Thailand's proposed registration of mobile phone SIM cards useless in foiling remote-controlled bombings in the far South, the source said, since bombers could always switch to the Malaysian phone network.

The eight districts with Malaysian signal reception are Tak Bai, Sungai Kolok, Wang, Sungai Padi and Sukhirin in Narathiwat; Betong in Yala; and Sadao and Hat Yai in Songkhla.

Songkhla's Hat Yai district, while removed from the separatist heartland of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, suffered two explosions on April 3 at the airport and a discount store. The blasts were thought to have been detonated remotely by mobile phones. Separatist militants are blamed for the April 3 blasts which killed two people and injured 60.

The source said it was not enough to regulate locally-distributed SIM cards when those originating outside the country were readily available and capable of causing as much destruction.

Insurgents would likely opt for Malaysian SIM cards which don't display an owner's history if used to trigger bombs.

Also, the source said, black markets on both sides of the Thai-Malaysian border did a brisk business selling illegal SIM cards produced in both countries. Contraband mobile phones were also smuggled in by the sackful, often through checkpoints at Tak Bai and Sungai Kolok.

In Pattani, police have asked local phone shops to supply them with the names of customers who rented mobile phones so they could be traced if necessary.

Muang district police have raided illegal pawnshops and seized 77 mobile phones, most of which were thought to have been stolen.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, meanwhile, ruled out legally amending SIM card registration, since the change in the law would take too long and the National Telecommunication Commission could issue such regulations immediately.

--TNA 2005-04-21

[george]

Update:

IDs required for SIM cards in May

BANGKOK: -- All buyers of SIM cards for prepaid mobile phones will have to show proof of identity as of May 10.

State agencies and mobile phone operators held a meeting yesterday and they all agreed to implement the new rule, said Kanawat Wasinsungworn, vice minister of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry.

No decision could be reached on requiring the existing 22 million prepaid phone users to identify themselves to their mobile phone operators, he said.

Earlier, the ICT Ministry proposed that the measure apply to both new and existing prepaid phone users.

All cellular service providers will sign a memorandum of understanding on May 9.

The move is in response to the government's effort thwart separatists in the South from using prepaid mobile phones to set off explosives.

Next, mobile phone operators must devise standard procedures to implement the rule.

During the meeting, some private telecoms firms proposed sending a welcome message to new SIM card owners. They reasoned that terrorists would stop using new cards in phones attached to bombs for fear that a short message would arrive at the wrong time.

TA Orange and Total Access Communication (DTAC) also urged the ICT Ministry to authorise mobile number portability.

The policy would let phone users keep the same phone number when they switch to a different provider, making it easy for the government to track them down if they become suspects.

But, some mobile phone operators insisted they would keep the personal information of new prepaid phone users confidential to protect their business interests.

They said the government would have to seek a court order to get access to such sensitive information, but that they would be willing to cooperate.

Currently, prepaid phone users are not asked to register when purchasing SIM cards.

Pol General Chidchai Vanasatidya, deputy prime minister, expressed confidence that stricter control of SIM card sales, as well as other measures to be put in place, would help curb violence in the deep South.

Chidchai said he believes cell phone users and businesses would not oppose the restrictions on SIM card sales. Buyers of new SIM cards might face difficulties in the beginning, he said, adding: "But later on they will get used to it."

Malaysian and Singaporean authorities also pledged to cooperate on intelligence and military issues, said Chidchai, who oversees the effort to curb violence in southern border provinces.

--The Nation 2005-04-22

[custard]

Thaksin is totally off his head, bonkers.

[george]

Update:

Officials to discuss enforcement of new SIM card regulations

BANGKOK: -- Government officials and the police are scheduled to meet to decide which existing laws the authorities can use to control the sale of prepaid SIM cards for mobile phones, the Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng told TNA on Friday.

Thailand is introducing measures to control the sale of prepaid SIM cards in an effort to prevent bomb attacks in the country’s southern border provinces. Suspected insurgents often use cell phones with prepaid SIM cards to trigger bomb blasts.

Laws will be rigorously enforced, said Mr. Chaturon. There is no need to issue new laws, as the government can apply existing laws to control the sale of SIM cards, he said.

Under the regulations which come into force on 10 May, anyone purchasing a new SIM card will have to show their identity card or passport. This customer information will be recorded and will help the authorities to trace the bombers.

Officials from the National Security Council, Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Interior, National Police Force and other government organisations will meet on Monday, according to Mr. Chaturon.

''IT ministry officials have reported that the private sector and phone companies have all agreed to enforce the regulations on future SIM card sales, but still remained flexible on current users,'' he said.

There are 21.5 million users of prepaid SIM cards throughout the country. They will be required to report their ownership within the next six months, he said.

''This is about solving the daily violence. We cannot afford to take a long time to enforce the regulations. If users don't comply, they will not be able to use their phones. The same goes for those who own foreign SIM cards,'' said Mr. Chaturon.

--TNA 2005-04-22

[sriracha john]

MOBILE PHONES: Foreigners must give numbers

Published on April 23, 2005

Govt ponders legal means of forcing operators to comply with registration

Foreigners carrying mobile phones to use with roaming services in Thailand will be required to declare their phone numbers, Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang said yesterday.

Chaturon, who is acting information and communications-technology minister, said the requirement would apply to anyone who entered the Kingdom.

The requirement is part of the government’s measures to prevent terrorists in the deep South from using mobile phones to detonate bombs.

A Government House source said the government would require mobile operators to provide services for foreigners to register their phone numbers to be eligible to use roaming services.

The source said the operators would be required to cut off services to SIM cards of foreigners who had not informed the operators of their phone numbers.

The source also said the government aimed to have mobile-phone operators put in place a system that could automatically cut signals to unregistered SIM cards from foreign countries.

Mobile operators have already agreed to require customers who buy prepaid mobile phone SIM cards to register their names, starting on May 10.

But the operators have not yet reached agreement with the state on how to handle the approximately 21.5 million cards for prepaid mobile phone services that have already been sold to customers.

Chaturon said he would hold a meeting with representatives from the Interior Ministry, the ICT Ministry, the Royal Thai Police, the National Security Council, the National Telecommunications Commission and the Commerce Ministry on Monday to discuss measures to deal with the non-registered SIM cards already in use.

“I hope to get a conclusion about this by Monday,” Chaturon said.

Khanawat Wasinsungworn, a vice ICT minister, said the ministry hoped to get full cooperation from mobile-phone operators. Otherwise, he said, the government would have to enforce existing laws to force the operators to comply by registering prepaid mobile-phone users.

Khanawat said he had directed the Council of State to study which laws should be used to force the operators if they failed to cooperate as they have promised.

Khanawat said mobile operators might use a market-promotion strategy of refilling use time on cards at a power price if the owners of the 21.5 million SIM cards came forward to identify themselves.

Meanwhile in Songkhla a mobile-phone dealer who identified himself only as Borworn said he had noticed a surge of sales in prepaid SIM cards yesterday after it was announced that buyers would have to register from May 10.

[marquess]

All the above will lead to, is a decline in those using roaming services here. It will just mean more bureaucratic hassle, in place that is not famed for it's efficientcey.

[udon]

The IRA had no problems detonating bombs before mobile phones were invented.

Expect a diferent type of detonation in future, down south and elsewhere.

What a waste of time, $$$, and resources......... typical Toxin rubbish.

If they want the serial number from the sim cards I bought 4 years ago, they can have squat.

Who keeps the card the sim was packaged in???

If they just want the IMEI/serial number of my phone, that's easy.......

Tie it to my number(s), yes?

Edited April 22, 2005 by udon

[Heiniken]

Just another B.S Idea who is gonna make more shit for the people . The terorists are gonna steal phones , use international phones , walkies or other transmitter systems or other ways to comunicate or fuse their bombs like a run back timer who everybody can buy from an electrical supply catalog. Its probbably a 1000 ways to set of a bomb and mobile phones are one of them and ofcourse they choose to ###### whit that one. I belive its more a kind of people registration who goes on and people dont like this big brother thing who goes on everywere. Like Iris scan and finger print registration before entering USA. If the system breaks down and all the information get in the wrong hands it could be used against the good citicens and so on. Watch out the new world order is getting ready , were you have to prove that you are innocent and they dont need to prove your guilty

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com

Something to think about.

[Heiniken]

I don't think this is such a bad idea!

Mobile phones are used in allmost every bombing incident that doesn't involve a suicide bomber.

Buy controlling SIM cards, investigators can find out from phone records who's phone was used to placed the call and what phone was used to trigger the bomb.

This is exactly how Spanish autorities tracked down the Madrid bombers so quickly.

Anyone that doesn't plan to use their phone for unscrupulous reasons shouldn't feel threatened by this requirement and lives may even be saved in the future.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Right seems like you got the idea .. What if you were close to the bombing and they used your phone or somebody in your family phone ? Gess you had to come whit a pretty good story why you was there .. You will be in jail for a while what soo ever your story was and it would be more easy for a terorist to get somebody blamed for the job . All he need to do is to find somebody who is a bit unstabile and time it.. Im sorry to tell you but you should think a bit bigger than you do ; You know the word Kwai ?

[george]

SIM card registration should be scrapped if it doesn’t work

BANGKOK: -- The main opposition Democrat party has urged the government to scrap the registration of all purchases of SIM cards for mobile phones if it fails to reduce the violent unrest in the Thailand’s three southern-most provinces.

The government has introducing regulations making it compulsory for anyone buying SIM cards for prepaid mobile phones to register their names and provide proof of their identity in an effort to reduce the violence in the South. Suspected insurgents frequently use cell phones to trigger bomb blasts.

The idea should be scrapped if it does not reduce the violence, a leading Democrat in the southern provinces, Nipon Boonyamanee told journalists on Saturday.

Mr.Nipon is the director of the Party's Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center.

The measure should already be scrapped, if the government does not have confidence that it will stop the violence, he added.

Mobile phone operators have already agreed to cooperate with the government's new regulations which are due to come into effect on 10 May.

The Democrats have also insisted that these regulations had to be applied across the whole country and not just in the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.

But cell phone service providers have not yet reached agreement with the government on how to handle the existing pre-paid mobile phone users, estimated to be more than 21 million customers

--TNA 2005-04-23

[patrickq]

Thought this might be of interest to those who believe that id registration somehow makes things safer for us. Typical of a dumb idea, I'm not the only one who imagined something like this happening .. the question is what kind of idiots design for Mercedes? Wonder if they have a compensation package included with the sale of each vehicle.

Published Monday 4th April 2005 13:52 GMT

A Malaysian businessman has lost a finger to car thieves impatient to get around his Mercedes' fingerprint security system. Accountant K Kumaran, the BBC reports, had at first been forced to start the S-class Merc, but when the carjackers wanted to start it again without having him along, they chopped off the end of his index finger with a machete.

So how safe does that make you feel carrying your mobile phone about? Politicians unfortunately aren't completely stupid, just corrupt. Thaksin is no different to any other, you don't become that wealthy by having any degree of morality. He presumably is not so thick that he hasn't heard of mobile phone theft, so where is the security in knowing that a phone used for the detonation of a bomb was stolen from an innocent person ... and how exactly do they know which phone/sim was used in any case. It beggars belief that anybody goes along with this idea, anybody supporting the proposal is either a little bit slow in piecing things together, incredibly naive, has a fetish for being controlled, or in the case of government and press just charlatans.

The only reason for this legislation is to get the ordinary man and woman onto a database, the criminals as always (including Thaksin naturally), will find ways of bypassing the system.

Patrick

[marquess]

The only reason for this legislation is to get the ordinary man and woman onto a database, the criminals as always (including Thaksin naturally), will find ways of bypassing the system.

[/i]I couldn't have but it better myself, any excuse!

[bdenner]

Please excuse me if I've repeated some one elses thoughts, GPRS limits the amount of scrutany I can give each topic.

These radicals do not need to be rocket scientists to figure a way around this small impost in their quest for whatever stupid cause they want to support or whatever havoc they need to create.

Is this SIM card thing is nothing more than 'Big Brother' standing over the multitudes?

OR

We all know Khun Thaksin has his fingers in many pies, is "Double AA" paper one of them?

22 million registrations is at least 22 million photo copies ---- ---- We are all fully aware about how fanatical the Thai’s are over paper, must represent quite a proportion of their G.D.P. Syndical? That’s me!

[maerim]

Gess you had to come whit a pretty good story why you was there .. You will be in jail for a while what soo ever your story was and it would be more easy for a terorist to get somebody blamed for the job . All he need to do is to find somebody who is a bit unstabile and time it.. Im sorry to tell you but you should think a bit bigger than you do ; You know the word Kwai ?

You know the word Kwai ?

You know the words spellchecker and dictionary?

[udon]

Gess you had to come whit a pretty good story why you was there .. You will be in jail for a while what soo ever your story was and it would be more easy for a terorist to get somebody blamed for the job . All he need to do is to find somebody who is a bit unstabile and time it.. Im sorry to tell you but you should think a bit bigger than you do ; You know the word Kwai ?

You know the word Kwai ?

You know the words spellchecker and dictionary?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Eksikoot oll ilitrits

[george]

Update:

PM says NTC can regulate SIM cards

BANGKOK: -- There is no need for the government to pass a new law to regulate sales of SIM cards for prepaid mobile phones, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in his weekly radio address.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had the authority to ensure distributors of SIM cards cooperate in the matter.

Mr Thaksin suggested the NTC issue a regulation requiring that distributors collect the identification details of those purchasing SIM cards. Distributors failing to do so would face having their licences revoked, he said.

``This is not the mere threat of a fine of 10,000 or even 50,000 baht,'' Mr Thaksin said. ``The threat of licence revocation is far worse, and nobody would dare take that risk,'' he said.

Mr Thaksin said the enactment of new legislation was not always the best option.

Mr Thaksin also guaranteed that buyers' personal information would remain secure and not be abused.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry recently discussed the issue with mobile phone operators and other groups and they agreed that customers would be required to produce identification from May 10.

They were currently figuring out how to encourage about 21.5 million existing users of prepaid mobile phone SIM cards to register with their phone operators.

--TNA 2005-04-25

[ovenman]

They were currently figuring out how to encourage about 21.5 million existing users of prepaid mobile phone SIM cards to register with their phone operators.

How about what they did in India when a similar program was instituted: register your prepaid number by a certain cut-off date or else your service is disconnected. How difficult is that to propose?

[Greer]

Goodness ovenman - don't give them any more big-brother ideas...

Just as a matter of interest - as the problem is the MOBILE phone - they don't have to be anywhere NEAR the location to set it off. They could even call from overseas...

I think it *might* help a bit, but I have serious doubts...

[ovenman]

Goodness ovenman - don't give them any more big-brother ideas...

I think registering all prepaid SIMs is a stupid idea myself and won't solve any problems (read my comments earlier in the thread), but if the authorities are determined to do this then just do it and stop screwing around. Period.

Just as a matter of interest - as the problem is the MOBILE phone - they don't have to be anywhere NEAR the location to set it off. They could even call from overseas...

Or call from a public pay phone. The only phone that needs to be a mobile phone is the one tied to the bomb itself.

[george]

Update:

Commercial regulations to control phone card trade

BANGKOK: -- Existing commercial regulations will be used to temporarily control the trade in pre-paid mobile phone cards, until the telecoms regulatory body drafts clear rules, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang.

The authorities hope to reduce insurgent attacks by strictly controlling the sale of SIM cards as suspected insurgents often use mobile phone to trigger bomb blasts.

The Thai government recently urged mobile phone service providers to co-operate with its plans to regulate the sale of pre-paid SIM cards, needed to activate a mobile phone. Anyone purchasing a SIM card is required to provide identification.

The deputy prime minister, though, admitted that the government’s request for voluntary help from the private sector had failed.

The government now intends to draft a new legal definition of the mobile phone as a ‘commodity’ in line with the commercial regulation, Mr. Chaturon told TNA.

Under the regulations of goods classified as commodities, all mobile phone users must legally register their numbers.

This will be a temporary measure until the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) decides how to regulate the mobile phone trade sector.

The country's five mobile phone service operators will be able to register all their 2.1 million users within the next three months, an aide to the Information Communications Technology Minister, Kanawat Wasinsangworn, said.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU), pledging cooperation between the government and private operators to implement these regulations, will be signed on 10 May.

--TNA 2005-04-26

[sriracha john]

BANGKOK: -- Existing commercial regulations will be used to temporarily control the trade in pre-paid mobile phone cards, until the telecoms regulatory body drafts clear rules, according to Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang.

The deputy prime minister, though, admitted that the government’s request for voluntary help from the private sector had failed.

The government now intends to draft a new legal definition of the mobile phone as a ‘commodity’ in line with the commercial regulation, Mr. Chaturon told TNA.

Under the regulations of goods classified as commodities, all mobile phone users must legally register their numbers.

On a phone interview for the tv Nation News this evening, Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon expressed that he is surprised there is so much resistance to registering. He said that it's no different than getting a driver's license, which people willingly provide all the same information they want for the SIM Cards.

[Greer]

They were currently figuring out how to encourage about 21.5 million existing users of prepaid mobile phone SIM cards to register with their phone operators.

....and....

The country's five mobile phone service operators will be able to register all their 2.1 million users

...so which is it?

[sriracha john]

21 million mobile phone users in Thailand. Roughly one for every three man, woman, or child in the whole country.