Govt orders great firewall of Thailand

[hawker9000]

The whole idea is madness. ...Madness for any country that claims to celebrate free speech. The global media will have a field day with this.

[englishoak]

If you dont have a plan B sorted for yourself and family now is the time to get one.

The writing has been on the wall for some time where this is all going, if this goes ahead dont think VPN is the answer because it isnt, thats easy to block these days, or do people really think China is that slow ?

A very successful guy who had a thriving IT business and satellite office in Thailand for a decade, relocated his entire SE Asia dept last year to Vietnam, loss to Thais was about 25 jobs of various levels from admin and office staff to home help and nannies. Reason ? instability and downturn in e commerce and online development, his feelings re business were Thailand was not only already being left behind but also likely to try and restrict things even further.

In his own words of explanation why they chose to close up and relocate.

There is little promising about Thailand, even stability for the foreseeable future, business or otherwise, unless well connected personally, only more problems and more risk. Safer and easier to relocate the business and family now rather than gamble on later.

I agreed with his reasoning then and I agree with him now.

History is littered with "it wont/cant happen to me" brigade...get a plan B sorted, if you dont need it great but if you do youll be damn glad you had one.

Edited September 23, 2015 by englishoak

[smedly]

banks and financial institution encrypt their pages...so no vpn is necessary..or required.

very impervious to the "man in the middle" attack. The biggest risk involving your online banking is password and private questions.....and sometimes people download risky software that include "keyloggers" that can record and transmit home your typed entries. Onscreen keyboard provided by the bank website are the best way to enter passwords.

correct, some people on here who obviously do not know what they are talking about scare mongering

if you have no real clue then don't post nonsense here please

Edited September 23, 2015 by smedly

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

"The Great Firewall of Thailand"

Maybe TAT can use it as a slogan to get ex Stasi members and North Koreans comming?

[jaywalker]

here it is in Thai:

http://pr.prd.go.th/chaiyaphum/ewt_news.php?nid=9060

Thats about selling rice and rubber to china

i got this directly from the person who broke the story on twitter. are you sure there are not more pages? they said the part about the internet was buried.

The link is correct. It's item #1 among many different topics.

From Google Translate:

The Government Administration and others.

1. According to the Cabinet (June 30, 2558), the Ministry of Information and communication with relevant agencies such as the Department of Justice. Royal Thai Police Establishing a Single Gateway to inappropriate websites and control the flow of information from abroad through the Internet. To check the legal requirements. If there is a need for further legislation to speed up the process to be completed without further delay with it. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. And the relevant authorities to expedite the establishment of a Single Gateway by the Cabinet said immediately following.

Edited September 23, 2015 by jaywalker

[SiSePuede419]

Good news!

Sounds like they're gonna need to hire some 'Digital Nomads' to write, err....copy some server-side scripts.

555

[BSJ]

Relax, enjoy the ride back in time and don't poke sticks at the tigers or snakes on the way......or the government MIB.

[thesetat2013]

crazy, real crazy.. but sex sites have been blocked for ages by Thais. This is just more of the same. Anyway people wo sell VPN will make a killing.

They'll probably ban VPN services if they go this far... it was alluded to in the report.

That report is an editorial piece not based on more than something found in the archives. Also find it to be rumor mongering and highly exaggerated for the report to suggest banning of VPN and encryption. Not possible for economic, business security and many other reasons. All https (SSL) sites would be inaccessible including many e-mail facilities. The concept is just so full of holes.

If it is not possible then how does north Korea do it???

[Somtamnication]

Note to self: update my vpn subscription NOW

[jacko45k]

The flow of data in and out of Thailand is already choked, I struggle to stream anything.

Do they think they can monitor VPNs too?

[brewsterbudgen]

The only good thing that can possibly come from this is that it might finally wake up the Thai people to the type of government they now have, and maybe hasten its demise.

You mean the previous governments were better and what or who gets in next will be better?

Better is subjective and I'm not Thai. I just want the people to elect their government.

[slipperylobster]

banks and financial institution encrypt their pages...so no vpn is necessary..or required.

very impervious to the "man in the middle" attack. The biggest risk involving your online banking is password and private questions.....and sometimes people download risky software that include "keyloggers" that can record and transmit home your typed entries. Onscreen keyboard provided by the bank website are the best way to enter passwords.

correct, some people on here who obviously do not know what they are talking about scare mongering

if you have no real clue then don't post nonsense here please

yes. banking/financing will not be blocked.

No need vpn for that.

Edited September 23, 2015 by slipperylobster

[carlyai]

It will never, never, never work.

How will the guys at CAT be able to watch their porn?

[gemguy]

And how many people on this forum supported the coup and further support the " New Order" military government???

[SiSePuede419]

And how many people on this forum supported the coup and further support the " New Order" military government???

All of 'em. By definition.

[hawker9000]

"The Great Firewall of Thailand"

Maybe TAT can use it as a slogan to get ex Stasi members and North Koreans comming?

All this is what comes of buddying up with the Chinese...

Here's a little tidbit (recently updated) if you're interested in how things are currently behind China's "Great Firewall".

I think Thailand will find itself engaged in an ongoing cat & mouse game with this, and user experience is bound to suffer horribly, to the point that ability to do business in Thailand will be significantly impacted - something I doubt that whoever's behind this is even thinking about). Surely they could find some more productive use for native time & talent... (But think of the potentially lucrative new income opportunies for the hands-on somebodies assigned to this on the inside...)

Edited September 24, 2015 by hawker9000

[ChrisY1]

I now think this whole topic may not have been actual.......it's obvious the turmoil it would cause !

Hopefully, just some dumb ass person thinking out loud.

[DrTuner]

Next step being replacing the content with propaganda and finally shutting off from the world completely. Another North Korea in the making. About 10-15y left to vacate free willingly, or be expunged later.

[hagler]

Indeed, there will always be ways around it for those with half a brain.

of course there will be ways around it if one trys hard enough.

Thats not the point.

The point is that the firewall is even there in the first place.

When people start to try to find ways around a problem without trying to stop the problem then they become part of the problem.

[slipperylobster]

One other thought....you reach a banned website...it is stored in a "cache" on your computer. You forget to clear the cache...

I can see where a political suspect could have his laptop/phone confiscated, and then the cache for your browser (and prefetch) would still hold information from a banned website (that you viewed and did not clear). So I suppose...that would imply illegal use of circumvention methods..mentioned in the rules here on thaivisa. Forbidden to discuss illegal use of circumvention. VPN'S are legal..but could be used for illegal activity (no brainer)

Even more interesting...some folks may unwarily click on a link in their email/chat box...which executes a java script...which in turns adds a banned link to your browser cache...without you doing a thing.

clean your browsing history and cache..and cookies. . I would clear out the prefetch every so often as well...(but not turn it off). This is not circumvention...this is regular maintenance....but helps prevents accidental pages popping up...when on vpn. I don't need to do this too often...as I use a linux that runs in ram..... If my flash drive is not plugged in...all traces disappear when I turn off the power. Now that is good for banking.

Edited September 24, 2015 by slipperylobster

[hawker9000]

The "firewall" under discussion isn't one between users inside Thaland and websites also inside Thailand. It's at the national boundary, and intended to shut off access to to information sources the government finds objectionable outside Thailand. Blocking websites domestically is another matter. Certainly something the govt has an interest in, but something it can already do something about. It can't do anything about foreign websites whose content it objects to except whine about them or try and erect a blocking firewall. The whining hasn't worked all that well to date, and so the govt now thinks it can do what China does, with its "Great Firewall".

It's thinking left over from the previous century.

[Bellacissa]

I honestly just use my VPN to access things like Netflix, BBC and other sites that won't let me stream things unless I'm in their country. I mean... my Thai TV has exactly four channels in English. I can only watch the same episode of Criminal Minds so many times before I have it memorized.

So, I'm hoping that VPNs aren't blocked altogether. I think it would be difficult to block them all. I can see blocking access to the websites where you sign up for one, but if you already have it? How would they be able to block that connection? (I'm genuinely interested - I can use my VPN, but don't know all that much about how they work.)

[soomak]

China, North Korea, Thailand

Also Russia, Turkey, Iran

Quite a few 'pseudo-democratic' countries are actively blocking websites, even the most popular ones such as facebook, wikipedia

[Cake Monster]

Thailands PR gurus strike again.

Just as Prayut sets foot on US soil for the 70th UN meeting, where he is scheduled to make a speech.

[Toknarok]

crazy, real crazy.. but sex sites have been blocked for ages by Thais. This is just more of the same. Anyway people wo sell VPN will make a killing.

They'll probably ban VPN services if they go this far... it was alluded to in the report.

That report is an editorial piece not based on more than something found in the archives. Also find it to be rumor mongering and highly exaggerated for the report to suggest banning of VPN and encryption. Not possible for economic, business security and many other reasons. All https (SSL) sites would be inaccessible including many e-mail facilities. The concept is just so full of holes.

If it is not possible then how does north Korea do it???

In North Korea you can't just walk into a computer shop and buy one. Ownership and use of computers is highly regulated

http://www.vox.com/2014/12/22/7435625/north-korea-internet

[eguerra305]

I'm so happy I decided to move back to America 6 months ago.

Edited September 24, 2015 by eguerra305

[LannaGuy]

The fanbois are going to have a tough time selling this turd. When will they have an inkling that they have backed the wrong horse?

Still, this will be good....

Why would someone in favor of the junta agree with everything they do. Did you agree with Thaksin letting his guys bomb and kill people ?

This is just crazy and should not be done. However a simple VPN and you can access all the sites you want, or you just use the tor network.

Hooray! The first 'But, but Thaksin' post of the thread: A thread which is nothing to do with him or his family. Couldn't leave him out, now could we?

No it was an example of something I thought you would not have supported even though you support the red cause ? I just gave an example but I guess it went way over your head.

Did you agree with everything the previous government did ? I guess you did not.. Same goes for me I don't agree with everything the junta does.

I don't even agree with everything the government did that I voted in back in my home country.

But go on trying to score cheap points, I had expected more of you.

"that I voted in back in my home country"

get it ???????????????????????????????

[kblaze]

The fanbois are going to have a tough time selling this turd. When will they have an inkling that they have backed the wrong horse?

Still, this will be good....

Why would someone in favor of the junta agree with everything they do. Did you agree with Thaksin letting his guys bomb and kill people ?

This is just crazy and should not be done. However a simple VPN and you can access all the sites you want, or you just use the tor network.

Sure you can access all the sites u want, but the SPEED will be snail pace as it will be sent outside the country and bounced back.

[PaPiPuPePo]

What is a VPN?

I have a pinned topic I wrote a while ago that explains it - Proxies, VPN And Other Information

Some reasons why they can't block VPN carte blanche. 1. Nearly impossible due to the many variables in how they work and tuning that can be done. 2nd and most important is it would cripple nearly every International company with branches in Thailand as they rely upon it for their WAN (wide area network) connectivity to their home office. This includes Thai banks that have branches overseas, possibly forex, possibly stock exchanges.

Now my curiosity is piqued regarding the Great Firewall of China, how they manage it.

Of course the number of very competent IT folks in China must dwarf that in Thailand by an enormous factor.

[baboon]

Indeed, there will always be ways around it for those with half a brain.

of course there will be ways around it if one trys hard enough.

Thats not the point.

The point is that the firewall is even there in the first place.

When people start to try to find ways around a problem without trying to stop the problem then they become part of the problem.

... Not to mention that no doubt working round it would be illegal too as part of the law, or what would be the point? I do hope robblok wouldn't be advocating criminal activities, therefore...?