Technical Glitch Blocks Move To Curb Southern Sims

[george]

Technical glitch blocks move to curb southern SIM cards

BANGKOK: -- Government plans to control the use of mobile telephones in Thailand's southern border region were thrown into disarray today when experts warned that controls in the southern border provinces would affect mobile phone users in the entire southern region.

Speaking after meeting with mobile telephone engineers this morning, an expert, Mr. Khunwat Wissanasangworn, admitted to reporters that the government’s idea of slapping bans on mobile calls made by people other than the registered users of each telephone would prove inoperable.

The government had originally hoped to introduce the ban in the three southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani, as well as Songkhla on 15 May, in a bid to help crack down on southern militants.

But Mr. Khunwat said that the government’s move would affect mobile users in all 14 provinces of the entire southern region, and that the only solution would be to introduce nationwide measures.

Under the plans which emerged from today’s meeting, from 10 May onwards all purchasers of new prepaid SIM cards would have to submit their ID cards when applying for their accounts, while the nation’s existing 21.5 million prepaid customers would have to submit identification papers at a later date.

The main obstacle to a block on the southern border provinces alone is the need to develop new software which would accommodate the introduction of a signal block in a limited geographical area, a move which would take some time.

--TNA 2005-05-06

[Explorer]

Plan B

Ban all mobile phones in Yala, Patani, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

Explorer

[Thetyim]

Plan B

Ban all mobile phones in Yala, Patani, Narathiwat and Songkhla.   

Explorer 

That would affect profits and as we know money is more important.

Right Plan C

Ummm......

Ahh Ban all militants in Yala, Patani, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

Yes thats it, perfect. Militants are illegal as from midnight.

[eljeque]

What kind of condition is a sim card after the phone-bomb is exploded?

Could anyone actually figure out what the sim phone number truely was, or not?

And, couldn't anyone out there simply use a Malaysian sim card near the border?

What about the possibility of using walky talkies? The guys constructing at my development have a lot of them.

Then again, a long fuse would do the trick as well.

[WISteve]

The idea of saving lives (possibily) by somehow making it more difficult for the militants is a noble one. But with a growing and expanding technology such as cellphones which is centered on giving more freedom and options to the user it is a difficult and near impossible task to turn 180 degrees and try to limit or suppress that freedom.

The bleeding and dying won't stop until the government is prepared to address the underlying economic and political differences in the southern provinces. Dealing with a minority population in your midst is a challenge that few nations have handled well over the centuries.

A well fed and economically successful minority is sterile ground to grow an insurgency in...

~WISteve

[Totster]

Technical Glitch Blocks Move To Curb Southern Sims, GOVT's IDEA INOPERABLE

Well there's a surprise.....

totster

[Dah fahrang]

Why not get people to make, then drop thousands of origami birds from planes over the troubled south?

[george]

Suspected insurgents in rush to purchase mobile phones

PATTANI: -- Suspected southern insurgents are apparently attempting to purchase second-hand mobile telephones at wildly inflated prices from members of the public in a rush to beat the enforcement of new government regulations on the ownership and use of mobile phones, scheduled to come into effect next Tuesday.

Col. Akhom Phongphraom, deputy head of the public relations department of the 4th Army Area Command, told the press today that local residents in the country's three southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani were reporting 'suspicious individuals' asking to purchase their mobile phones from them.

Under the regulations to come into force on 10 May, only the registered owners of prepaid mobile phones will be able to use them to make calls.

The government hopes that the move will help reduce incidents of violence in the southern border region, where insurgents have used mobile phones to detonate explosives.

Col. Akhom called on the local residents to act with caution when selling their mobiles, warning that they could be implicated if the phone was later used in any militant act.

Anyone with information on suspicious requests to purchase mobile phones should contact the army on its 1341 telephone hotline, he said.

--TNA 2005-05-07

[george]

Tuesday deadline remains but southern phones cannot be blocked

BANGKOK: -- The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry has abandoned its effort to control and disconnect unregistered mobile phone SIM cards in the four southernmost provinces, but reiterated that all prepaid card buyers would have to produce legitimate identification as of Tuesday.

Technical experts at the ministry said yesterday it was not feasible to detect and turn off phones with unregistered cards, as planned after a May 15 registration deadline. It had been hoped to limit the options of bombers, who have exploded numerous bombs by using mobile phones.

The second part of the restriction remains in effect. Mobile customers must produce an ID card or passport to purchase a prepaid mobile phone SIM card, starting on Tuesday. Sellers must record the names and ID details, and authorities will monitor all shops selling the cards to ensure they record buyers' details.

Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng had previously set May 15 as a deadline for all owners of prepaid mobile phone SIM cards in Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and Songkhla provinces to register or have their phones disconnected. But the minister was forced to admit he issued the ultimatum without asking engineering experts whether the plan was technically possible.

''Disconnection of signals in the particular four areas could not be taken since it will also affect owners of SIM cards in all 14 southern provinces, starting from Chumphon'' southward, said Kanawat Wasinsungworn, an assistant to ailing ICT minister Suvit Khunkitti.

''Also, it would affect the operators' incomes and business operations.''

But yesterday, engineers from CAT Telecom, TOT Corp and all five mobile phone operators met at the ICT ministry to discuss the feasibility of disconnecting signals in just the four southern provinces.

Mr Kanawat said the biggest problem was a lack of specific software to block signals just to prepaid mobile phone service in the four target provinces. It would take ''some time'' to upgrade existing programs _ well past the proposed May 15 deadline.

In addition, SIM cards are registered for nationwide use, on all 21.5 million mobile numbers, not to particular users.

Mr Kanawat said the operators and two state telecom firms will continue meetings to work on implementing the intention of the government edict, and thought it could be completed this month.

Authorities now plan to order all 21.5 million prepaid users to register their phones within six months or be cut off.

Mr Kanawat said the ministry will seek co-operation from other agencies to help, by providing registration venues, including the 1,700 branches of the Civil Registration Division, the Tambon Administration Organisation, and 3,000 post offices.

He said the seven private mobile phone operators _ Advanced Info Service, Total Access, TA Orange, Digital Phone Co, Thai Mobile, Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia and satellite-based Aces Regional Service _ as well as CAT Telecom and TOT, have agreed in principle to sign a memorandum of understanding on Monday that support registration.

The agreement will reportedly become part of the firms' concessions, although no new laws or regulations will be issued. Translation: Operators who fail to meet the government's call will be penalised at the core of their business, the concession contract.

--Bangkok Post 2005-05-08

[PeaceBlondie]

Isn't the prime minister who made this suggestion public, at least a little bit knowledgeable about telecommunications in Thailand?

[billd766]

Isn't the prime minister who made this suggestion public, at least a little bit knowledgeable about telecommunications in Thailand?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually no he has no real idea of how the systems work as do most people. However he is a good manager in the same way Bill Gates of Microsoft is. To be very successful and very rich you need to hire the best people to run your business, pay them well and simply reap the profits.

My problem is that if I went to the south I would not be permitted to use my mobile according to the government as the registered owner is my wife (and it is on the AIS system).

[hokiefan]

"But the minister was forced to admit he issued the ultimatum without asking engineering experts whether the plan was technically possible."

You tend to lose a little credibility when you do things like this. Before publicly announcing a plan like this saying it is going to stop bombings in the South, I think you would want to talk with those involved to make sure it is a viable plan.

[Greer]

Speaking after meeting with mobile telephone engineers this morning, an expert, Mr. Khunwat Wissanasangworn, admitted to reporters that the government’s idea of slapping bans on mobile calls made by people other than the registered users of each telephone would prove inoperable.

...how the he11 would they know who was making the call?

Sorry, but this is one of the silliest concepts I have ever read!

Fair enough to register purchasers, but impossible to stop the purchaser from loaning his mobile to someone else...

Edited May 8, 2005 by Greer

[kenk3z]

I remember taking a test in school called "Clerical Speed and Accuracy".

With this in mind, I wonder just how accurate the record keeping will be for 21.5 million subscribers, when the records are being recorded by rather uninterested people.

On the other hand, if someone slips a SIM card digit, you could possibly be in prison as a terrorist. Not a happy thought.

Perhaps I can find a better place to vacation in the future.

kenk3z

[george]

Extra time to register SIM cards in South

The deadline for existing owners of prepaid phones in the four southernmost provinces to register their SIM cards has been extended from May 15 to within three months because of a technical hitch, Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng said yesterday.

Mobile phone operators are still uneasy about being able to comply.

Mr Chaturon last week set May 15 as the deadline for registration in Songkhla, Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces in a bid to curb mobile phone-detonated bombings in the deep South.

If they fail to meet the deadline, those SIM cards would be disconnected.

Mr Chaturon said TOT Corp and CAT Telecom insisted that disconnection only in the four southern provinces was technically impossible and that pre-paid phone owners in a total of 14 southern provinces would be affected.

Operators had sought six months for registration, but he had insisted on only three months, he said.

``We must prioritise public safety instead of considering how much the operators can do,'' he said. ``The operators must be active or else they will lose income because clients will return SIM cards.''

There are approximately 100,000 owners of pre-paid SIM cards in the four southern provinces who need to register.

Nationwide, all people buying new pre-paid phone SIM cards must present their identification cards or passports and register from today.

--The Post 2005-05-10

[Joey Boy]

they must be banning international roaming in those areas aswell or this will have no effect whatsoever, how stupid do they think these militants are?

Only a matter of time before theres a "crackdown" on alarm clock sales in the south

[penzman]

...an egg timers

[thymode91]

This is only a light solution for counter terrorism, the Thai government should induce powerful act to solve this bombings. I don't knew really what southern most province militants wanted but it was simple that Thai people are killing each others. The worst were most of the victims are innocent.

[maerim]

The worst were most of the victims are innocent. 

I assume from this then that at least some victims were guilty.

Guilty of what and how do you know?

[Humphrey Bear]

Isn't the prime minister who made this suggestion public, at least a little bit knowledgeable about telecommunications in Thailand?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually no he has no real idea of how the systems work as do most people. However he is a good manager in the same way Bill Gates of Microsoft is. To be very successful and very rich you need to hire the best people to run your business, pay them well and simply reap the profits.

My problem is that if I went to the south I would not be permitted to use my mobile according to the government as the registered owner is my wife (and it is on the AIS system).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why not use 'pay-as-you-go' cards from 1-2-Call / Happy etc.?

No registration, no problem.

But obviously this had not been thought through AT ALL. Worse than Tony B-liar.