Mobile Phone Users Told To Register Sim Cards

[billd766]

The mobile that I use is registered in my wifes name even though the bills are English with my name and sent to me. As my wife has her own mobile does that mean that she has to register them both?

Confused

[george]

This registration is only required for pre-paid SIM users (One-2-Call, Happy Dprompt etc) , not for customers who is post-paid (billing).

[capt_canada42]

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of

truth . . . In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of

sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself." (Albert

Einstein)

[moebius]

And what happens when the phone is stolen and used by a terrorist??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Virtually all cellphones (mobiles) have keylock security which, if you don't utilize it, should foil anyone trying to use your phone who does not have the smarts to know what the service code default access code is (amazingly simple, really).

Anyway...they steal your phone, can't access it through keylock, they log on to a phone unlock site, spend $6.95 US to get the access, it records a record of the transaction traceable by government class worm searches, and they localize where the e-transaction came from and send in the dark suits in the middle of the night. Better than having nothing at all, and much better than just having a bunch of stolen phones traceable to nobody.

So, if you don't use the security features of your phone now, or don't register in the future, some black op will connect you to a terrorist action (in the eyes of the government), a la Brazil, and you will find yourself in a tricky situation.

Ah, technology...ya' gotta love it...

[schmokinn]

This has got to be one of the most silly registrations i ever heard of.

The ways of getting around this attempt to control SIM's are too many.

Or how about simply using SIM's bought in Malaysia?

My bet is that there is another reason behind it all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

how about they have someone clever enough to just reprogramme the info to anything they want???

just a thought

[Jai Dee]

Well... the Pattaya Expats Club Newsletter got it wrong again...

More on the mobile phone registration - I registered my phone at Telewiz in IT Centre (south Pattaya road). I tried a few other outlets first, just to judge the reaction, and none could do it. The phone counter next to Telewiz had no idea where I could get this done, and suggested Sri Racha!

Unregistered phones after 31 July are threatened to be 'blocked'. As a foreigner you will need to take your phone, your passport & a note of your address, and (try to) get a copy of the registration document (I couldn't).

[feasantplukka]

[qIuote=Ijustwannateach,2005-06-22 18:54:52]

This will cause a lot of problems unforeseen by the government:

1. Sim cards used to implicate others falsely in crimes (along with the scam Wolfie mentions above!)

2. No longer will sim numbers be anonymous- so one will have to be as careful in giving someone one's mobile number as in giving him one's name. And once you give your number to someone else, and they give IT to someone else, all the third parties can determine your name.

I'm soooo sure this will prevent terrorist organizations from anonymizing their phone calls. After all, they seem to have been so poor at keeping their identities from the police so far...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Regarding the sim card registration, last week I registerd my AIS 12 call sim card at the carrefour shopping centre in Pattaya, all I needed to do was fill in a simple form, phone number, passport number, print and sign name,It took 2 minutes both Farang and Thais were signing the form , second floor at the 1 2 call phone shop.

[Chiuey]

in my opinion there's only really one thign that can be said about all this...... (and I get the feeling this is pretty much all I'll be posting on issues relating tot the government)

[wilko]

Registering 15 odd million people will be a task in itself!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Impractical, ineffective, inoperable; a complete farce...

[deepdiver]

easy for bad people to get SIM cards registered.... you just have to ask some unknown person from the street (a student for example) to register a SIM card under his name ("I give you 500 Baht if you register for me, because I dont want my wife/GF/BF to know about that number"). So, which young Thai person wouldnt agree to earn a quick 500 Baht so easily....

What ? ME ? nooooooo way......of course I would NEVER do such thing, I am so innocent, and will always do everything my GOD THAKSIN asks me to do 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

where do you live ? Hat Yai...????

[happycamper]

This seems more like an organized marketing effort to create a database on prepaid SIM users.

Prior to this mandate, the mobile companies including AIS had no way of identifying the profile of prepaid users and therefore could not develop a database of usage information to be able to create marketing plans to drive adoption, increase usage, reduce churn etc.

With this new mandate, they'll be able to calculate % of foreigners v.s. local use, length of subscription, number of SIMs per user, etc etc.

What a scam!

[aegdawson]

Registering 15 odd million people will be a task in itself!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea that works out at about 8333 registrations per day over 6 months... clearly a well thought out plan

[MekhongKurt]

While my sentiments are with those expressed already by others in this forum, I would like to comment on the implications of having one's phone stolen -- whether a pre-paid or monthly billing one -- that haven't been mentioned (unless I missed something -- entirely possible!).

That is, there are at least one types of terrorists, defined one: their level of technical sophistication. The Al-Qaeda operatives of the world no doubt have access to the technology to cloak a SIM card in anonymity. What about the amateurs, though -- especially those acting on impulse?

That is, if a wannabe terrorist is enraged right now and lifts my phone, and he doesn't have a clue about much of anything other than to use it to dial a number to trigger a bomb -- what then? Especially "what then?" if he uses it before I'm able to make it to the police to report the theft?

A person caught up in such an unfortunate situation would be mighty suspicious to me, were I a lawman.

The only way I can think of to get around that possibility is to buy a pre-paid card in a country not requiring SIM registration then pay to use a roaming service. I, for one, am neither able nor willing to pay such charges were I able to do so. Anyone in my position is very much on the horns of a dilemma.

Phone security is going to have to vastly improve to avoid this sort of scenario.

I don't mind the government having access to my data (so long as it's properly used) in and of itself, but this is a worrisome requirement, given the manifest possibilities that somehow innocent people may be caught up.

As for the objections to a data base for commercial properties, I'll echo the sentiment of an old U.S. Marine saying: "Let 'em fight it out; last man standing wins." And if the last man is too greedy, he may find himself customer-less. (Fingers crossed.)

[cutter007]

Senario 1 : they will proclaim on Dec 31st, that all SIM cards have been registered. Someone soon after will use one with a bomb.

Some police Col. will say that the phone was registered to, the guy that got his sister preganent and left. They will find him guilty, and declare the entire program a success.

Senario 2 : they will proclaim on Dec 31st, that all SIM cards have been registered. Someone soon after will use one with a bomb.

Some police Col. will say that the SIM card was blown up, and due to the fact that 5 phone calls were all places in that same grid at the same time, they can't determine which card was used. Entire program swept under they rug, as nothing is ever declared a failure.

Senario 3 : they will proclaim on Dec 31st, that all SIM cards have been registered. Someone soon after will use a radio detonator instead of a cell phone.

Someone will be made a scape-goat, for not telling all the inept politicians that other devices could be used to detonate bombs. Then the press will systematically destroy his reputation for senselessly squandering the taxpayers’ money.

Choose a senario!!!!! Winners will recieve free SIM deregistration forms on Feb 1, 2006.

[Tornado]

BANGKOK: -- Mobile phone users are being given six months in which to register their personal data under a government scheme aimed at cracking down on the use of mobile phones to detonate explosives in Thailand's southern border region.

what a load of ######en crap!

Thaksin must of read Bush's bullshit book on how to manipulate a country

[The Nemi]

My Opinion:

From my point of view registration for Post Paid (i dont know it exists or not) is fine. But for Pre Paid u just cannot keep track of people using pre paid cards...i mean come on be realistic....and do they think those thugs or whatever are some couple of teenagers who will do some mistake n get caught. These kinda guys are always a step ahead of the police (so called good guys.... ).

There shud be a fool proof plan or something reeeeally good to catch these notorious people. Well govt. have something to scratch their brains abt.

[Scott]

I am not much of a conspiracy theorist, but there seems to be a lot of things happening that lead me to wonder what is really going on.

1. First the closing of internet sites (critical of the gov't).

2. Today, the newspaper reported that TV broadcasts will end at 12:00 midnight (to save energy). This includes UBC.

3. The on-going mobile phone registration fiasco.

Once you control all of these areas, you have a pretty firm grip on the entire population. It's not a big leap to first control when you can watch something/do something to controlling what you can watch/do.

Any thoughts?

[kat]

I've been thinking along the same lines. When you combine this with people having to register their passport numbers, and how the PM's telecommunication interests have been developing in Burma, it is very scary.

And of course, this does not even include other developments, such as the crackdown and buyouts of independent media, the complete takeover of Parliament, and the more and more frequent piss tests and harassment at social venues.

[MaiChai]

Does anyone know how the scheme will work? It all sounds very vague. Who is going to hold the data? Will my data be protected? Until I see something regarding this, I wont be registering. Think I will send AIS an email; they are pretty good at replying.

It all seems overkill. Whats to stop them using a stolen sim card, remote from a radio controlled car, cheap walkie talkie, or other methods, ? Fanatical people will always find ways round obsticles.

Edited June 23, 2005 by MaiChai

[Acharn]

--dan

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All he'd do then is switch the phone off! And turn it on when he needs too !

Guys this phone sim registration is just a bunch of Jazz, how the heck are they gonna enforce getting every sim card being registered? All you need to do if they do go all militant is buy two sim cards now; one for registering and one for 'Discrete' Use.

You guys just don't get it. This isn't about actually accomplishing anything! This is about giving the appearance of *doing something*. Whether it makes sense or not doesn't matter. It's necessary for the "powers that be" to be seen to be *doing something*, even if it isn't effective or makes any sense.

It's just like after the crash in 1997 -- the school where I work came out with a directive to turn off the air con when students left a room, turn off the lights, nobody allowed to work later than 6:00PM, supposedly to save money. In fact, they were losing money for entirely different reasons, but they had to be seen to be *doing something*. It's important to have the people involved, too. Same thing with Thaksin's campaign to get people to conserve electricity. When prices get high enough, people will conserve energy without any government intervention, but Thaksin needs to show that he's the leader, with ideas to "save" the nation.

[MrSnrang]

Does this remind anyone of the Nazi's rise to power? Anyone at all?

[MekhongKurt]

Another writer commented "You guys just don't get it. This isn't about actually accomplishing anything!"

The first part is wrong in the context of those of us who've been here longer than 30 minutes and not asleep at the wheel. (Me? Eleven years in Thailand, 18 of the last 20 years in East/Southeast Asia -- mainland China, Macau, and Thailand.)

As for the second observation . . . I wonder. For whatever reasons -- good or bad -- the government *has* had an impact on the way representatives of the media go about their jobs. Two sites were -- if the media aren't simply making it up (unlikely) -- shut down a few days ago. A number of actions taken obver the past several years have been by prime ministerial/ministerial/cabinet diktat rather than by parliamentary bill when one might have expected such actions to require debate and approval by the parliament and senate.

But perhaps those actions were entirely within legal-constitutional bounds; I'm certainly no expert.

Even so, unfolding events are, um . . . "interesting."

[Sturbuc]

Well, registration of prepaid-cards is standard procedure in many countries, too (eg Germany). This is o.k. to prevent from telephone-terror because the first card holder might be found out. When the sim-card is owned by a third party, no further registration is required. The only thing the former owner could do is report to his provider. But stolen phones /SIM-Cards could lead to big trouble if this SIM-card is involved into some crime.

IMEI-Numbers are not registered/checked; otherwise it would be easy to find out who's using your stolen cell-phone.

If your mobile is switched on, your precise position is available.

But my girl-friends phone (and SIM-Card) had been stolen last week, SIM-Card is not in use, Cell phone can't be found (s.before).....

Edited June 26, 2005 by Sturbuc

[JimsKnight]

And what happens when the phone is stolen and used by a terrorist??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Virtually all cellphones (mobiles) have keylock security which, if you don't utilize it, should foil anyone trying to use your phone who does not have the smarts to know what the service code default access code is (amazingly simple, really).

Do you mean the phone lock? The keylock is a two digit key used to stop the phone being accidentaly used when in the pocket! Anyone with half a brain would work that out.

If its the phonelock you mean the most users only have the simlock turned on... Why? Because the phones don't come with the phone lock activated...