Govt orders great firewall of Thailand

[Asiantravel]

Again , it's just a proposal, I can't see it going through , ordinary Thais will protest to this from day 1.

I will bet you any amount of money you like that they won't!

Edited September 24, 2015 by Asiantravel

[billd766]

This is just a proposal , the great firewall of Thailand will never happen.

If it did , most of the Thai population would want Thaksin to come back and save them so they can watch porn and facebook on their phones again

This will end up in the drawer together with the rest of the stupid proposals.we've seen coming from Thai officials.

.

But is it? I notice my internet has been increasingly been interrupted.

Mine hasn't. They must have looked at my boring emails etc and thought I was OK.

[balo]

I'm on 3BB , no change here, speed has been ok for the last 12 months. But I also use VPN to watch streamed content and I guess I just have to keep the subscription if "the great firewall of Thailand" appears.

[clockman]

Like most things in Thailand, what they want and what they get.?

[brewsterbudgen]

I just told my wife that if it wasn't for her and my adopted son, my ass would be on the way to Vietnam. She just smiled and said "Thank you."

Vietnam isn't known for having unrestricted internet!

[b4n9]

Italian Hacking team was leaked, so many conversation between the team and thai officers.. just check wikileaks and you will se by yourself. bytheway wikileaks is blocked by the great firewall of thailand , but if you use a vpn then you good to go. Do not ever think to connect your emails, banks accounts, etc etc etc without using a vpn, specially in thailand.

Wikileaks isn't blocked

weird . it was blocked the time I wrote the post. accessing from TOT. now I can access again.

[T_Dog]

Junta Readies ‘Great Firewall of Thailand’

By Khaosod English

Map of malicious internet traffic. Image: NorseCorp.com

By Teeranai Charuvastra

BANGKOK — Thai authorities have taken steps toward achieving their stated desire of gaining greater control of internet use by creating a single gateway for all internet traffic in and out of the kingdom.

The military government’s intention to police internet content by channeling it all through a single point of control has taken practical steps toward becoming a reality in recent weeks, with officials being instructed to “speed up” the process of implementation of a system which alarm advocates of a free and competitive internet.

Although the idea was first floated almost immediately after the ruling junta came into power, it only went into writing last month. On 4 Aug. the military government approved the plan, and on 27 Aug. issued an order to the ministry tasked with regulating the internet to make it happen, according to cabinet meeting records.

“The Ministry of Information Communication Technology is hereby instructed to speed up the aforementioned issue and report any progress to the prime minister by September 2015,” read the 27 Aug. cabinet minutes of the gateway project.

Col. Setthapong Malisuwan, deputy chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, told BBC Thai that he prefers to call “single gateway” a “hub” to avoid any negative connotation.

He defended the plan, saying the “single hub” would allow Thai security forces to monitor internet traffic more easily. Col. Setthapong also insisted that the idea would promote, not hamper, Thailand’s digital economy,and claimed that other modern countries have similar surveillance measures.

"Singapore, United Kingdom and United States, many countries already have this kind of law. Cybersecurity laws,” the colonel said in an interview with BBC Thai. “We are very late comers."

Arthit Suriyawongkul, coordinator of internet freedom advocacy group Thai Netizen Network, told Khaosod English that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology recently gave two options to ISP representatives in the meeting: Either direct all signals through a central gateway operated by the ministry or consent to having tracking devices installed in their ISPs.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1443090849&typecate=06&section=

-- Khaosod English 2015-09-24

Saying this is a new idea is just spin. The Bangkok Post had an article on 4 June 2008 entitled "Net Slowdowns suggest government monitoring internet." The firewall has been in the works for a long time.

[gk10002000]

this is a very big mistake, its one thing to want to end the political sh*t fights but quite another to actually control what people can see and read. This will cause more trouble than he can possibly imagine and lose a lot of support for him.

It doesn't matter to him if he loses support. He doesn't care. He did not ask anybody's permission when he took over and overthrew the existing government.

[jaywalker]

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.

I just ran Malwarebytes on my computer a couple days ago.

It found over 1,000 problems.

All I knew was that it was getting a bit slow.

It's much better now. Those pesky hidden scripts seem to be everywhere.

[baboon]

5555 Does this mean that nobody in Thailand will be able to read Thai Visa anymore? The Junta is only doing this so that nobody can tell the truth about them. They will probably have to have another coup to get rid of these clowns in charge once things get so bad.

I guess the junta tolerate Thai Visa as it's been seeded with their propagandists who are presumably paid by the post.

Hilarious. You can tell the 'real' people on forums from paid rhetoric spouters by the content of their posts. I would say that TVF has few 'professional' posters because as a general rule, non red-shirts all write with their own distinctive style and differing viewpoints whereas pro-red shirts tend to make juvenile comments with no real argument and regurgitate rhetoric in a manner no professional would ever get hired to do.

Your own comment is a good example.

Unlike the Bangkok Post forum shortly after the protests started of course. They had a big flood of new users and they all claimed to be Thai, all wrote very good English, all kept repeating shallow rhetoric in support of Pheu-Thai and all had a writing style which came across as very similar to a native English speaker. It seems you people are the ones guilty of what you are so quick accuse others of. Where I come from, we call people like that shameless hypocrites.

Meanwhile, back on topic, do you support this firewall, John?

[HooHaa]

I'll add that the social and economic costs of a single-point internet are very high. A free flow of information facilitates a free flow of money, and obviously academics, educators, and researchers suffer from internet censorship.

They just don't understand here how the Internet is good for business, and free flowing, fast internet makes everyone money. They also don't seem to see that fast, accessible Internet is crucial to increasing tourism. Old guys stuck in the 60's, business-wise. Either that, or they don't want upscale tourists, prefer busloads of Uzbeks and other low-tech extremely low budget tourists.

It's true that free wi-fi access is much harder to come by in Thailand than, for ex., Cambodia, which is as we all know much poorer than Thailand. 99% of "free wi-fi" in Thailand requires registering and/or paying for that service. This is one of the reasons I find Thais to be unusually stingy.

Two other places without good free wi-fi: Hong Kong and Japan; needless to say it's not about a country/place being able to afford giving away wi-fi, but whether TPTB in that place know that it takes money (investment) to make money, or would rather make pennies now and lose dollars later.

free wifi is moot where a country has decent 3/4g and reasonable data plans, which thailand does. i rarely avail myself of free wifi, why would i? my phone is generally faster.

[alant]

Visa reporting, registering of mobile phones and now monitoring on internet traffic.

Talk about xenophobia gone mad. Thai people will wise up sooner or later for sure and no amount of government imposed restrictions can stop that,,, unless of course you abandon democracy all together (yikes).

Thailand want all the benefits of International trade and cross boarder relationships but also want to keep their boarders as closed as they dare and now restrict what you can realistically do online here.

A recent post said what company is going to be comfortable knowing that the Government has installed a single gateway,, well none of course.

Vietnam looks more and more to be the country to watch out for in the Asean, if not then perhaps indonesia,, Thailand is going to fall behind for sure.

Very sad, I have grown to like it here but there's only so much dictatorship I will stomach.

You forgot to mention that if you have overseas guests stay with you for a couple of days, you have to report that to immigration.

Likewise, if you fancy a few days off and go to visit and stay with a friend somewhere in Thailand, he/she is supposed to report that to immigration.

Give us the bloody wristbands with GPS chips. At least we will be free of all the paperwork.

free of the paperwork just how many photocopies do you think getting your wristband will entail???

[faranghh]

I think this is called the "The Mushroom Stratagem" keep everyone in the dark and feed it plenty of BS, and it will flourish.

Edited September 25, 2015 by faranghh

[Seastallion]

"The cabinet resolution was just unearthed on social media by someone browsing the official government cabinet resolution repository."

OK, so that's the end of either social media, or the updating of the official government resolution repository, or an end to access to said repository.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Seastallion

[Boatfreak]

You are not that far away from reality , every visiting yacht must be equipped with an Automatic Identification System (tracker) nevertheless they succeded to let an illegal fishing trawler escape "an eyeblink and he was gone"

Visa reporting, registering of mobile phones and now monitoring on internet traffic.

Talk about xenophobia gone mad. Thai people will wise up sooner or later for sure and no amount of government imposed restrictions can stop that,,, unless of course you abandon democracy all together (yikes).

Thailand want all the benefits of International trade and cross boarder relationships but also want to keep their boarders as closed as they dare and now restrict what you can realistically do online here.

A recent post said what company is going to be comfortable knowing that the Government has installed a single gateway,, well none of course.

Vietnam looks more and more to be the country to watch out for in the Asean, if not then perhaps indonesia,, Thailand is going to fall behind for sure.

Very sad, I have grown to like it here but there's only so much dictatorship I will stomach.

You forgot to mention that if you have overseas guests stay with you for a couple of days, you have to report that to immigration.

Likewise, if you fancy a few days off and go to visit and stay with a friend somewhere in Thailand, he/she is supposed to report that to immigration.

Give us the bloody wristbands with GPS chips. At least we will be free of all the paperwork.

[craigt3365]

I'm on 3BB , no change here, speed has been ok for the last 12 months. But I also use VPN to watch streamed content and I guess I just have to keep the subscription if "the great firewall of Thailand" appears.

I'm not super technical, but my friend who lives in China says it's terrible to get access outside the country. He has to get up very early to do his online banking. After that, the speed is to low.

Maybe they've reduced the "pipe" to the outside world? He does use a VPN, but doesn't help. Hope we don't have these issues here.

FYI...I've heard from many they are having poor internet speeds. Mine is way down from a year ago. Of course that could be due to other factors like a hungry rat somewhere nearby! LOL

[JAG]

this is a very big mistake, its one thing to want to end the political sh*t fights but quite another to actually control what people can see and read. This will cause more trouble than he can possibly imagine and lose a lot of support for him.

Indeed, it will start an epic political sh*t fight.

[JAG]

5555 Does this mean that nobody in Thailand will be able to read Thai Visa anymore? The Junta is only doing this so that nobody can tell the truth about them. They will probably have to have another coup to get rid of these clowns in charge once things get so bad.

I guess the junta tolerate Thai Visa as it's been seeded with their propagandists who are presumably paid by the post.

Hilarious. You can tell the 'real' people on forums from paid rhetoric spouters by the content of their posts. I would say that TVF has few 'professional' posters because as a general rule, non red-shirts all write with their own distinctive style and differing viewpoints whereas pro-red shirts tend to make juvenile comments with no real argument and regurgitate rhetoric in a manner no professional would ever get hired to do.

Your own comment is a good example.

Unlike the Bangkok Post forum shortly after the protests started of course. They had a big flood of new users and they all claimed to be Thai, all wrote very good English, all kept repeating shallow rhetoric in support of Pheu-Thai and all had a writing style which came across as very similar to a native English speaker. It seems you people are the ones guilty of what you are so quick accuse others of. Where I come from, we call people like that shameless hypocrites.

Meanwhile, back on topic, do you support this firewall, John?

In your own distinctive style, and from a differing viewpoint of course!

[everett kendall]

I suppect the Morals and Vice Police to follow this just like in Saudi.

If they do this there will not be an election or an elected government by the people.

[JAG]

Visa reporting, registering of mobile phones and now monitoring on internet traffic.

Talk about xenophobia gone mad. Thai people will wise up sooner or later for sure and no amount of government imposed restrictions can stop that,,, unless of course you abandon democracy all together (yikes).

Thailand want all the benefits of International trade and cross boarder relationships but also want to keep their boarders as closed as they dare and now restrict what you can realistically do online here.

A recent post said what company is going to be comfortable knowing that the Government has installed a single gateway,, well none of course.

Vietnam looks more and more to be the country to watch out for in the Asean, if not then perhaps indonesia,, Thailand is going to fall behind for sure.

Very sad, I have grown to like it here but there's only so much dictatorship I will stomach.

You forgot to mention that if you have overseas guests stay with you for a couple of days, you have to report that to immigration.

Likewise, if you fancy a few days off and go to visit and stay with a friend somewhere in Thailand, he/she is supposed to report that to immigration.

Give us the bloody wristbands with GPS chips. At least we will be free of all the paperwork.

free of the paperwork just how many photocopies do you think getting your wristband will entail???

3 of your passport ID page, 3 of the visa page, (all signed), 2 of both parts of your marriage certificate (signed by witness), 2 copies of witnesses Tabian Ban and I D cards, 3 copies of wife's ID card and Tabian Ban, bank statement signed by bank manager, and 2 copies of any pets vaccination certificates signed by the vets lawyer.

All to presented to an immigration office every 90 days, with a fee of B1900.

NB This process cannot be carried out at the same time as your 90 day reporting.

You could do it on line - but the Internet gateway will be down.

[Crazy chef 1]

A move closer to the Dark Ages for Thailand.

Are there different shades of dark???

[dutchy124]

''Col. Setthapong Malisuwan, deputy chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, told BBC Thai that he prefers to call “single gateway” a “hub” to avoid any negative connotation.

He defended the plan, saying the “single hub” would allow Thai security forces to monitor internet traffic more easily. Col. Setthapong also insisted that the idea would promote, not hamper, Thailand’s digital economy,and claimed that other modern countries have similar surveillance measures.

"Singapore, United Kingdom and United States, many countries already have this kind of law. Cybersecurity laws,” the colonel said in an interview with BBC Thai. “We are very late comers."''

If, as he says the UK, USA and Singapore use this system why is everyone complaining?

[user82374298374]

If, as he says the UK, USA and Singapore use this system why is everyone complaining?

Because the UK, USA, and Singapore do not use this kind of 'system'.

[gandalf12]

If they manage to get it working.....there's every chance it'll be a dogs breakfast and unstable for some time.............

Just unstable for some time? I would say premaently unstable. What happens if the gateway goes down, and they do? Total internet blackout until someone wakes up and notices there is a problem

[jadee]

would anyone have a link to the story but in the Thai Language?

thanks

Just spoke to a group of Thais. They know nothing of this, ....... but then, isn't the whole idea? Only being informed of what the government want them to know.

The government will probably say they are 'upgrading' the internet if and when this plan goes ahead. Few will question it.

[sawadee1947]

Don't worry, the public backlash will be overwhelming.

Even if they push ahead with the laws, the next civilian government can always repeal the laws.

I doubt it.

Most Thais only use Internet for Line, Facebook and plagerism.

Most are only interested in what goes on in Thailand and couldn't care less about ISIS or migrants in Europe.

So, if the Thai government only allows their own "happy news" through, then Thailand will be full of "happy people".

A good fence is always the best for a "Happy Thailand"

[Thaidream]

Have been a supporter of the coup and the Prime Minister but this is way over the top and beyond logic. I do not support this type of monitoring whether it is in the US, UK or Thailand. This would be a vast intrusion into a person's private life and no government-anywhere- has that right and no amount of rhetoric can justify it. What's next- tracking devices inserted into a citizen's body.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Thaidream

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thailand’s Plan For Chinese-Style ‘Great Firewall’ Could Drive US Internet Giants Like Facebook, Google

By David Gilbert

The Great Firewall of China is the name given to the severe restrictions imposed on Internet access within that country. But even as China mulls opening up as part of a broader effort to boost its economy, one of its nearby Asian neighbors, Thailand, is looking to ramp up its own censorship program, using the People's Republic as a model.

According to government documents filed in June and highlighted on social media just this week, Thailand's military rulers plan to create “a single gateway for Thailand to block access to sites and control information flow." China operates three such gateways, but considering the difference in size of population and Internet use, this is not a surprise.

According to a translated version of the cabinet resolution filed on Sept. 4, at the end of June the Ministry of Information and Communication (MICT), along with relevant agencies including the Department of Justice and Royal Thai Police, were asked to establish a “single gateway to serve as a control tool to inappropriate sites and the influx of information from abroad through the Internet.”

The Thai government asked the MICT to check the legal requirements of establishing such a gateway in order to speed up the process. The one glaring issue the MICT may have to address is encryption, as effective encryption would prevent the government from monitoring Internet traffic flowing into and out of the country -- suggesting that the country may soon ban it, along with cloaking services like VPN and Tor.

Full story: http://www.ibtimes.com/thailands-plan-chinese-style-great-firewall-could-drive-us-internet-giants-facebook-2111726

[gandalf12]

Network security as in availability is best with a distributed network not a single gateway

[MaxLee]

Junta Readies ‘Great Firewall of Thailand’

By Khaosod English

Map of malicious internet traffic. Image: NorseCorp.com

By Teeranai Charuvastra

BANGKOK — Thai authorities have taken steps toward achieving their stated desire of gaining greater control of internet use by creating a single gateway for all internet traffic in and out of the kingdom.

The military government’s intention to police internet content by channeling it all through a single point of control has taken practical steps toward becoming a reality in recent weeks, with officials being instructed to “speed up” the process of implementation of a system which alarm advocates of a free and competitive internet.

Although the idea was first floated almost immediately after the ruling junta came into power, it only went into writing last month. On 4 Aug. the military government approved the plan, and on 27 Aug. issued an order to the ministry tasked with regulating the internet to make it happen, according to cabinet meeting records.

“The Ministry of Information Communication Technology is hereby instructed to speed up the aforementioned issue and report any progress to the prime minister by September 2015,” read the 27 Aug. cabinet minutes of the gateway project.

Col. Setthapong Malisuwan, deputy chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, told BBC Thai that he prefers to call “single gateway” a “hub” to avoid any negative connotation.

He defended the plan, saying the “single hub” would allow Thai security forces to monitor internet traffic more easily. Col. Setthapong also insisted that the idea would promote, not hamper, Thailand’s digital economy,and claimed that other modern countries have similar surveillance measures.

"Singapore, United Kingdom and United States, many countries already have this kind of law. Cybersecurity laws,” the colonel said in an interview with BBC Thai. “We are very late comers."

Arthit Suriyawongkul, coordinator of internet freedom advocacy group Thai Netizen Network, told Khaosod English that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology recently gave two options to ISP representatives in the meeting: Either direct all signals through a central gateway operated by the ministry or consent to having tracking devices installed in their ISPs.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1443090849&typecate=06&section=

-- Khaosod English 2015-09-24

Saying this is a new idea is just spin. The Bangkok Post had an article on 4 June 2008 entitled "Net Slowdowns suggest government monitoring internet." The firewall has been in the works for a long time.

Well let's pray, that it is just scaring tactics as you indirectly mentioned....