NSA intercepts data on Thailand and neighbouring countries

[webfact]

NSA intercepts data on Thailand and other countries

BANGKOK, 30 December 2013 (NNT) - German news magazine Der Spiegel revealed that the US National Security Agency has been collecting sensitive data on key telecommunications cables between Europe, North Africa and Asia, which include Thailand and neighbouring countries.

The magazine, citing classified documents from February of this year, described the agency’s success in spying on the so-called Sea-Me-We 4 undersea cable system.

The massive bundle of fibre optic cables originates near the southern French city of Marseille and links Europe with North Africa and the Gulf states, continuing through Pakistan and India to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Spiegel said the companies that hold ownership stakes in it included France Telecom, now known as Orange and still partly government-owned, and Telecom Italia Sparkle.

According to reports, NSA specialists had hacked an internal website belonging to the operator consortium to mine documents about technical infrastructure including circuit mapping and network management information.


-- NNT 2013-12-30

[PatOngo]

There goes the recipe for somtam..........is nothing sacred anymore!

[bigbamboo]

I'd love to see the Americans trying to make sense of anything that emanates from the Thai government.

[chainarong]

It would be a surprise if any one was interested in data out of Thailand via Europe , most is already known, the political situation would be a worry, if only for the safety of their expats , there is the five eye's that keep an eye on all things Asia , just ask Indonesia..

[geriatrickid]

I'd love to see the Americans trying to make sense of anything that emanates from the Thai government.

No worries, the Australians take care of that.

One of the more reliable electronic surveillance services along with the Canadian service who have been spying on Americans for the US government for decades.

[billsmart]

That's my tax money at work!

[bangarang]

How is this news to anyone? Ever since the cold war I always thought spying and intercepting data between countries was common knowledge to the public.

[h90]

I'd love to see the Americans trying to make sense of anything that emanates from the Thai government.

How many NSA died from suicide out of frustration after reading day by day the transcription what some thai ladies in Germany spoke on the phone with their friends in Thailand.

Clearly it must be some unbreakable encryption code, because it clearly doesn't make sense when you just listen to it.

[tetleythedog]

There goes the recipe for somtam..........is nothing sacred anymore!

I always thought that the NSA were an intelligence agency, so why are they monitoring Thailand ???

[Ulic]

If we can't spy on our citizens. we will have to get our friends to do it for us just like rendition and torture.

Our hands are clean, we just want the information.

[Yunla]

The NSA evidence received in the last twelve months is a diversionary tactic to get the public talking about old and dead-in-the-water subjects, while more advanced forms of societal manipulation are being accelerated all around us. These limited-hangouts of NSA data are intentionally released cookie-crumbs that lead you up the wrong road. Don't fall for it, is my imho.

[lowbo]

old news... recipricate... next topic!

[shrimpythailand]

Momento Mori is correct... all misdirection for the Big Picture.... usa losing world reserve currency, GMO foods, ongoing wars to support the usa military industrial complex, big banks, stock market manipulation etc and on forever.... wait till Monsanto owns all the patents for all thai rice and everything else and not just here in Thailand... they are hoovering up every last email, skype, mobile phone call worldwide.... one article has them with 700 servers around the world with some here in bangkok... besides all the satellite communications...any yahoo, gmail, hotmail email and your old mails all storedaway... funny a few years ago when the big 3 email accounts had 1 gig, then 2,5,10 gigs+ now of storage since 2001 and it's all been sucked up by the NSA... yah they may not read or listen to it all - but it all is stored away now... foreign countries plans and inter gov mails and also big corporations from every country - just so they know which way the wind is blowing in Thailand and every other country... if they were listening to Merkel's mobile and other heads of states they are listening to all heads of states for info and other good tidbits that can be used for free trade deals and other big corp info...

just saying... even this thaivisa post... 5 5 5 "Hi boys... whatz up today at the good ol NSA?"

[mumjokmok]

Momento Mori is correct... all misdirection for the Big Picture.... usa losing world reserve currency, GMO foods, ongoing wars to support the usa military industrial complex, big banks, stock market manipulation etc and on forever.... wait till Monsanto owns all the patents for all thai rice and everything else and not just here in Thailand... they are hoovering up every last email, skype, mobile phone call worldwide.... one article has them with 700 servers around the world with some here in bangkok... besides all the satellite communications...any yahoo, gmail, hotmail email and your old mails all storedaway... funny a few years ago when the big 3 email accounts had 1 gig, then 2,5,10 gigs+ now of storage since 2001 and it's all been sucked up by the NSA... yah they may not read or listen to it all - but it all is stored away now... foreign countries plans and inter gov mails and also big corporations from every country - just so they know which way the wind is blowing in Thailand and every other country... if they were listening to Merkel's mobile and other heads of states they are listening to all heads of states for info and other good tidbits that can be used for free trade deals and other big corp info...

just saying... even this thaivisa post... 5 5 5 "Hi boys... whatz up today at the good ol NSA?"

It's come along way from the days of a young J. Edgar Hoover threatening with something like "we saw you out with some broad last night Jones, we'll tell your wife or you do what we say" now it's more like "okay Jones at 16 mins 23 secs into intercourse, beginning at 23:46 hours last night the 4th, she bit you on the ear and called you "big poppy", right after that you mentioned to her you had some files......."

[boomerangutang]

Surveillance feeds on Walking Street in Pattaya - might interest some NSA workers. If they can decipher genders of those walking around Walking Street, they should publish the results for us taxpayers who are paying their NSA salaries.

[rijb]

The NSA is going to be in big trouble with the Bangkok Post. It doesn't allow anyone to use their precious content.

[sgtsabai]

Yea, old news but not old. Having been a victim of tricky dick's regime I'm well aware of the extent the Corporate Police State of Amerika will go to spy on and silence it's critics. As a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War my phone was not only tapped, but the feds paid the phone bill so they could still listen to us laugh at them, we already knew. I had constant surveillance, the feds etc. have many pics of me shooting them the finger because they weren't very good at their job. We even had airplane surveillance, we shot them the bird they waggled their wings. Feds were caught installing listening devices in our lawyers room to listen to attorney/client privileged conversation. I went to jail, Justice William O. Douglas, US Supreme Court (it was then-not now) released me. The feds tried to assassinate some of us, failed. Times change, all remains the same only now worse. The US is out of control.

[ballpoint]

There goes the recipe for somtam..........is nothing sacred anymore!

I always thought that the NSA were an intelligence agency, so why are they monitoring Thailand ???

They're using it as a reference. It makes up the zero level baseline.

[rijb]

Yea, old news but not old. Having been a victim of tricky dick's regime I'm well aware of the extent the Corporate Police State of Amerika will go to spy on and silence it's critics. As a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War my phone was not only tapped, but the feds paid the phone bill so they could still listen to us laugh at them, we already knew. I had constant surveillance, the feds etc. have many pics of me shooting them the finger because they weren't very good at their job. We even had airplane surveillance, we shot them the bird they waggled their wings. Feds were caught installing listening devices in our lawyers room to listen to attorney/client privileged conversation. I went to jail, Justice William O. Douglas, US Supreme Court (it was then-not now) released me. The feds tried to assassinate some of us, failed. Times change, all remains the same only now worse. The US is out of control.

You shouldn't have slept with Jane Fonda.

[Longtooth]

How is this news to anyone? Ever since the cold war I always thought spying and intercepting data between countries was common knowledge to the public.

Exactly. It would be HUGE news if it were announced that a major world power was NOT spying on some country! Actually, it would be like announcing a failure on the part of that major power's intelligence gathering agency.

[sgtsabai]

Immoderator, I didn't but certainly would have (here is where I would insert smilie, if I knew how..lol). She was a major support of the GI Movement and Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

[sgtsabai]

rjib, sorry, broke glasses and apparently brain. I'd edit also, if I could make it do so. Anyway, Jane is a good lady and has had many lies spread about her. I was invited to be on the 'infamous' trip to Hanoi but I didn't trust my temper to go. I had Vietnam Vet friends on that trip and Jane has apologized for the picture, nothing else to apologize for.

[Credo]

If you think paying for the NSA is expensive now, just wait until the Freedom of Information people decide they want to see the files in X number of years. It will take an entire army to retrieve, review and release all that information!!

[bangon04]

The NSA is going to be in big trouble with the Bangkok Post. It doesn't allow anyone to use their precious content.

I imagine the NSA staff scratching their heads trying to decipher any real information from the Nation articles. They must think the Nation has a special type of encryption....

[Thai at Heart]

I wonder after its been deciphered, how much stuff from thailand they have kept?

10 pages?

[geriatrickid]

The NSA evidence received in the last twelve months is a diversionary tactic to get the public talking about old and dead-in-the-water subjects, while more advanced forms of societal manipulation are being accelerated all around us. These limited-hangouts of NSA data are intentionally released cookie-crumbs that lead you up the wrong road. Don't fall for it, is my imho.

Were you wearing your tinfoil hat when you wrote that?

[connda]

[geriatrickid]

Yea, old news but not old. Having been a victim of tricky dick's regime I'm well aware of the extent the Corporate Police State of Amerika will go to spy on and silence it's critics. As a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War my phone was not only tapped, but the feds paid the phone bill so they could still listen to us laugh at them, we already knew. I had constant surveillance, the feds etc. have many pics of me shooting them the finger because they weren't very good at their job. We even had airplane surveillance, we shot them the bird they waggled their wings. Feds were caught installing listening devices in our lawyers room to listen to attorney/client privileged conversation. I went to jail, Justice William O. Douglas, US Supreme Court (it was then-not now) released me. The feds tried to assassinate some of us, failed. Times change, all remains the same only now worse. The US is out of control.

LOL. If they wanted you dead, they would have done it.

How did you get into Thailand if you are a convicted felon? Were you pardoned?

[sgtsabai]

I am not pardoned, did I ever say that I was a convicted felon? Take time to read and digest. I was an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Gainesville 8 (+4). Imprisoned for refusing to testify. I was released from custody by the US Supreme Court and the jury found the Gainesville 8 (+4) not guilty in record time and members attended our reunions. All other arrests resulted in not guilty verdicts. I am also a former Federal Wildland Firefighter and a commissioned/certified New Mexico Law Enforcement officer along with being a Sgt USMC Vietnam 1966/67. Yea, if they really wanted me dead, I would have been long ago. Like I said they tried for some of us but weren't successful, guess they just figured we weren't worth the effort. After all 'Charlie' didn't get us either. I'm not stupid enough to not know what the government is capable of, more than likely know much more than you and it isn't a laughing matter.

[lineofentry]

With friends like America, who needs enemies.