Website Blocking Gone Crazy

[Thaiblue]

I can understand the thai government trying to stop access to certain websites to keep the internet within the perameters of the law, and to upkeep the high moral standards of the country! I can't understand for the life of me why they would block teamtalk.com probably the best football site around. i understand they have links to betting websites, but i'm bure these link cut be stopped as apposed to the whole website.

Where will it end?

[Thaiquila]

They think they are delicately, surgically removing offending content.

Instead, they are BUTCHERING it. Lots of collateral damage.

[Phil Conners]

High morals... Patpong, Nana, Soi Cowboy etc.... Indeed.

Anyway just had a look at teamtalk.com - they have a big sign about football gambling on the front page, probably the reason for the block.

Edited June 19, 2006 by madsere

[Prudent_rabbit]

football365.com...click on the link for the desktop chart that you can fill in the world cup results...oh no you cant, its been cybercleaned!!!

[TokyoT]

I can understand the thai government trying to stop access to certain websites to keep the internet within the perameters of the law, and to upkeep the high moral standards of the country!

Where will it end?

High moral standards?

Sex/porn – for starters take a stroll thru Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patpong, or how about just a simple walk down Sukhumvit? Then if you are feeling really adventurous maybe we can take a look at the real Thai for Thai action.

Gambling – During that same walk down Sukhumvit take a look at how many tickets for the “numbers” games are being sold.

Yea, it’s the dirty nasty farang-based web-world that is corrupting Thai society.

IMHO the web censorship is a classic example of waste. I think there are many more ways the money/resources could be used to actually benefit Thai society – don’t you?

Were will it end you ask?

Probably when you log on to the web in Thailand and get the following message “Welcome to Intranet Thailand!”

[PREM-R]

Were will it end you ask?

Probably when you log on to the web in Thailand and get the following message “Welcome to Intranet Thailand!”

Dangerous - Don't give them ideas

[penzman]

Lemurs are flying the plane.

[farangsay]

Lemurs are flying the plane.

Don't you mean lemmings ?

[penzman]

Nope. Lemurs.

[Thaiblue]

i'm sure it won't be long before we're on a local intrantet!

the track record here is pretty good.

they did manage to rid the country of all drugs, prostitution and corruption in their other moralistic campaigns.

[CymruAmByth]

Nope. Lemurs.

Please outline the connection between lemurs flying planes and the internet being blocked, and I am sure you mean lemmings, as per Farangsay's post.

Nice pic though...I love baby animals, even if their parents are perceived as suicidal pilots.

[English Noodles]

Nope. Lemurs.

Please outline the connection between lemurs flying planes and the internet being blocked, and I am sure you mean lemmings, as per Farangsay's post.

Nice pic though...I love baby animals, even if their parents are perceived as suicidal pilots.

I think it meant that the people in charge dont know what they are doing

[Thaiquila]

Maybe they get paid for each website they block.

[penzman]

Nope. Lemurs.

Please outline the connection between lemurs flying planes and the internet being blocked, and I am sure you mean lemmings, as per Farangsay's post.

Nice pic though...I love baby animals, even if their parents are perceived as suicidal pilots.

I think it meant that the people in charge dont know what they are doing

Thank you.

I have refered to other species of the animal kingdom in the past (including lemmings!) , to each their turn.

Lemurs will hop from place to place, not really knowing what it is they're looking for while denying access to others in the area.

[Jockstar]

They have blocked torrentspy also. See my post in the internet/pc forum

[Sarpedon]

i saw this and thought i would add my 2 bahts worth about teamtalk and then i read the opening post!! Hopefully its only for the duration of the world cup but thats my first website of the day to catch up on the footy news..

It truly is bordering on the ridiculous!

[OldAsiaHand]

What really bothers me about all this is that an enormous step in restricting the public's access to information has been taken without any legal basis at all. This blocking is not being done following an act of parliament. It's being done because some moron of a local politician appointed to office decided he was going to do it and nobody (as is typical in Thailand) stopped him.

Who decides what will be blocked? Is there any limitation on the descretion of the people doing the deciding? And, once it's decided, how can someone appeal mistakes and misjudgments?

Of course, no Thai would bother to comment on any of this, nor would the Thai press mention any of it because on the whole it effects them very little. Who do you think reads the English-language web sites that are being blocked? The bulk of the Thai population? Give me a break.

Most Thais just don't care even if occasionally they do look at a site and find it blocked. It's primarily foreigners who think that people should have free access to information. Thais know better. They know that the simple folk, which naturally includes foreigners, need to be controlled. What's really scary is that they are happy to have some uneducated local politician from Nokorn Nowhere doing the controlling.

Edited June 21, 2006 by OldAsiaHand

[thohts]

No longer able to access Torrentspy.com

I guess I'll just have to go downstairs and actually *buy* the bootleg.

No, really.. without BitTorrent I can't watch my favorite shows from the states.

I suppose blocking a website is easier than putting several hundred 'businessmen' out of business by enforcing the law.

[fanciman]

I would like to know who is in the special interest group that started this censoring initiative. It is a shame that one of the knock-on consequences is that discussion of avoiding site blocking has been banned in ThaiVisa.

It is becoming like China.

To try and answer my own question, i heard that some high-up person had a problematic son, totally out of control. The father decided to use his influence to control the world, since he couldn't control his son.

Who is behind it all? I would like to hear some speculation. Or perhaps there are hard facts.

And regarding the internet blocking in thailand, search google (whilst we still may!) and answers will be found.

[atlastaname]

If you think freedoms are slowly being eroded in Thailand you want to try living in England. Talk about a police state in all but name !!

[Ijustwannateach]

I think it will continue (as fascist campaigns usually do) until foreign people (of course, not Thais) start getting arrested for spreading software designed to get around the block. They will go to court and there will be no basis in law for their arrest (as often happens) and there will be an international kerfuffle comparing Thailand's human rights to those of China. Tourism will take another hit and one or two people will have their reputations smeared. Then the hare-brains will "review" their policy and things will slowly creep back to more open internet.

All they're really accomplishing is wasting money on the bandwidth most smart people must now use to get around the blocks with various bandwidth-eating software.

"Steven"

[OxfordWill]

But fortunately we are talking about the internet and not a cohesive 'whole' that is ever possible to properly regulate.

Searching around for methods to anonymously and simply circumvent these types of restriction is certain to yield positive results for anyone with half an hour on their hands.

[cclub75]

This blocking is not being done following an act of parliament. It's being done because some moron of a local politician appointed to office decided he was going to do it and nobody (as is typical in Thailand) stopped him.

So true !

It's a perfect illustration of how the thai "power" system is runing : something is legal or not because someone (official) said so.

For instance, Thaivisa set a new rule about the forum : "Due to current censorship by Thai Authorities, we do not allow discussions of proxies or other methods of bypassing government blocking of websites"

My question is : is it illegal to use proxies in Thailand ? Can you show the reference to that law ? I doubt it.

The government use a law to fight pornography and other "offensive" contents. That's OK. And then... they start to block other websites. Why, how, on wich legal grounds ? Nobody know. It's just "like that".

And everybody is bending and assuming that is "legal". "It's like that".

Let me remind you the story last december about the book "Bangkok Inside Out".

Because one day, one femal official at the Ministry of Culture was not sabai during her breakfast one day, she said that this book was "offensive" for Thailand. And because she said that, the bookstore went very fast to remove the book from the shelves.

Censorship without legal ground.

[OldAsiaHand]

Yes, you are quite right. There is nothing illegal about the use of proxies.

Thai Visa itself is a fine example of why arrogant, half-literate politicians keep doing this kind of thing in Thailand. Some smug moron announces -- without the slightest basis in law to do so -- new and better ways he is going to require all people to behave as he wants them to, and get out of the way or you risk being trampled to death in the rush by the common folk to fall in line.

The aggressive forelock tugging on Thai Visa to these jerks is really amazing to me. Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. "It's their country and we are just guests fortunate to be here." Burp.

Edited June 24, 2006 by OldAsiaHand

[cclub75]

The aggressive forelock tugging on Thai Visa to these jerks is really amazing to me. Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. "It's their country and we are just guests fortunate to be here." Burp.

Indeed, sometimes too much PUC : Political Utter Correctness.

But eventually, it's only because TV seems really afraid to loose some trafic (if the website were to be blocked), and some advertising income.

I guess it's time to create a new Thai Visa : TV2 (keep it simple). No ?

[OldAsiaHand]

As they say in an undertaking that really IS illegal in Thailand (but which we seem to talk about all the time here in one form or another regardless), 'up to you.'

[jambla]

I browse without restrictions by using a proxy server when i come to a site that is blocked.

[Neeranam]

I browse without restrictions by using a proxy server when i come to a site that is blocked.

Could you please explain to us luddites what that involves.

[Mr_Dave]

I browse without restrictions by using a proxy server when i come to a site that is blocked.

Could you please explain to us luddites what that involves.

Neeranam asks a reasonable question.

Proxies bypass all restrictions of the sort mentioned in this thread.

Some proxies are free, but slow.

Some charge a monthly or yearly fee, and are quite fast.

However detailed a discussion of the topic might be ill-advised on a high-profile web site like this one.

Google answers all questions.

ASK.com answers questions even better than Google.

.

[OldAsiaHand]

Proxies bypass all restrictions of the sort mentioned in this thread.

However detailed a discussion of the topic might be ill-advised on a high-profile web site like this one.

This would be a real belly laugh if it weren't so pathetic.

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, yet we discuss it constantly and in explicit detail on this and God only knows how many other boards.

Proxy servers are not illegal in Thailand and yet many boards ban any discussion of them at all for fear that such a discussion might displease someone powerful.

Very, very sad.