Control Urged On Phone Chat Lines

[Jai Dee]

Control urged on phone chat lines

Girls go missing on illicit dates after talking to strangers on TOT service

Telephone chat lines operated by TOT Plc, which are popular with thousands of teenagers to set up dates, are responsible for about 10 cases of underage girls being drawn into illicit sex and being abused, a youth advocacy group alleges.

The Mirror Foundation's information centre for missing people said yesterday it had investigated the cases and found that the girls had been using the phone chat lines at the time.

The foundation's Worrachet Kheowjan said a 14-year-old girl named Ae had gone missing from home and police found she had made lengthy telephone calls to the 1900 chat lines run by TOT.

Her parents had complained that their phone bill was several thousand baht each month and their TOT statement showed a series of 1900-xxx-xxx chat line numbers.

Ae's friends told the police she often spoke with strangers on the chat lines. She eventually agreed to a date with a man and then went missing. Police later found her hanging around with a group of teenagers and took her home.

Ae has now stopped studying and dropped out of junior high school. She still uses the chat line services and sporadically goes missing from home.

Worrachet said another 14-year-old, Bee, went missing from home after spending long periods in the chat lines, running up a mobile-phone bill of Bt3,000 a month. Police contacted several males who had been chatting with Bee and they admitted that they had had sex with her.

Two weeks after she went missing, Bee returned home and her parents took her to a psychiatrist. Today she still uses the chat lines.

The foundation recently petitioned the National Telecommunications Commission and the Culture Ministry to regulate the chat lines more strictly.

Chief of the ministry's Watchdog Centre, Ladda Thangsupachai, said advertisements for the chat services, using the 1900-xxx-xxx numbers were found in all media, especially general magazines. The use of suggestive or inappropriate images in the adverts could attract teenagers to the service, she said.

"The state authority which has given out the concession should strictly control the service," Ladda said.

Source: The Nation - 18 July 2006

[Jai Dee]

Chat line services will be closely monitored to prevent sexual harassments

The Culture and Information and Communication Technology ministries are closely monitoring the Chat Line Audio Text 1900 service after 10 girls were sexually abused by the men they met in their telephone chats.

Culture Watch director Ladda Tangsupachai (ลัดดา ตั้งสุภาชัย) said the service is alleged to be sex-oriented. It has been exploited by criminals looking to take advantage of women sexually, Mrs. Ladda said, adding that so far 10 girls who used the service had become victims.

She said TOT Corporation has already asked Samart Infomedia Co., the service provider, to tighten controls on what callers say, record the conversations and block the under 18s from using the chat line.

Mrs. Ladda said Culture Watch will seek cooperation from its allies in keeping a close watch on the service.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 19 July 2006

[Jai Dee]

I've re-opened this topic for open discussion.

But please be warned: any posts discussing under-age sexual activity or any other illegal and/or immoral activity will be immediately deleted and the poster warned/suspended accordingly.

[moonoi]

Is it possible to block access to premium rate numbers here in Thailand, like you can in the UK?

Just thinking that parents could then put a block on 1900 numbers being dialled from home phones / kids' mobiles.

Maybe it might help along with stronger enforcement of rules not allowing under 18s' to access the service?

[Jai Dee]

Govt to get tough with chat lines

Rather than friendship, it is alleged that 1900 chat lines advertised on the web are covertly offering sexual services to teenagers.

The government is threatening to crack down on 1900 chat lines that claim to offer love and friendship but are increasingly being used to provide sexual services.

The chat lines, which cost just nine baht a minute, are advertised over the internet and feature images of half-naked young women who promise love and more. Although there are no laws prohibiting phone sex in the kingdom, the 1900 chat lines, which connect callers to live operators or link callers together, are coming under increasing scrutiny.

Officials at the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (ICT) claim the 1900 services are being used to ensnare teenagers and as a covert means of offering sexual services.

The ministry has ordered telecom providers to investigate the allegations.

“I am treating this as an urgent matter,” said Manerat Plipat, the ICT Ministry’s deputy permanent secretary.

TOT Plc, formerly the Telephone Organization of Thailand, provides private operators with 1900 phone numbers through concession agreements. According to ICT, there are currently 12 companies that have contracts with TOT to use these hot-lines, offering services that include chat lines, fortune telling, weather and news reports for between six and nine baht a minute. Two of those companies – GMM Digital Domain and Samart Info Media – are subsidiaries of media giants GMM Grammy and Samart Corporation. Some companies are even subcontracting out their concessions, making tracking and accountability difficult, ICT said.

While some of the services offered are legitimate, 1900 numbers in Thailand are increasingly offering sexual content, which ICT says they should not. The ministry also claims callers are being connected to sex providers.

Chat lines have been linked to at least 10 abduction cases and even the murder of youngsters who have called the numbers and been attacked by other users.

Last month, a 12-year-old girl from Bangkok was reportedly kidnapped by a 26-year-old man who had posed as a teenager. Even as far back as 2000, a 15-year-old disabled girl was reportedly murdered by another teenager whom she met through a chat line.

Parents have been asking for stricter regulation of the 1900 services for years. ICT says TOT should police chat line services and take action against those who use the numbers “inappropriately.”

“TOT should discontinue contracts with these providers so that such services can be terminated,” said Manerat.

A TOT spokesman said it could terminate services with companies that violate their concession agreements or the law. But there are currently no laws specifically banning 1900 numbers, or regulating their content, making it difficult for the industry or law enforcement agencies to shut down the ones that attract underage users or advertise sexual services, Manerat said.

“We are carefully considering all existing laws and regulations to control these services. At this stage, it is still uncertain which ones can be invoked to penalize these operators. However, TOT should still step in to investigate operators [who provide sexual services and attract underage children],” she said.

ICT will be meeting with officials from TOT later this week to discuss ways to police the industry.

Neither GMM Grammy nor Samart Corporation responded to requests for interviews.

Source: ThaiDay - 19 July 2006

[Jai Dee]

230 young users of chat line services disappeared in the past three years

The Mirror Art Foundation reports that since 2003, 230 children who used chat line services have gone missing.

Ekkaluck Lumchomkhae (เอกลักษณ์ หลุ่มชมแข), the foundation’s legal official, said of the 230 who are still missing, 200 are girls and 30 are boys.

Mr. Ekkaluck said parents should check if their telephone bills are unusually high and if calls are made to suspicious numbers as a way to protect their children.

Efforts are being made to tighten control on Chat Line Audio Text 1900 service to prevent criminals from taking advantage of young victims.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 20 July 2006

[astral]

[

Efforts are being made to tighten control on Chat Line Audio Text 1900 service to prevent criminals from taking advantage of young victims.

I fear it will be all talk and no action.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

[

Efforts are being made to tighten control on Chat Line Audio Text 1900 service to prevent criminals from taking advantage of young victims.

I fear it will be all talk and no action.

With 230 said to be missing it is already well past the time for action.

[salween]

Well, addressing this could be one positive aspect to Singapore taking over the phone system.