Single internet gateway clarified

[kannot]

The country quickly going from everyday stupidity to a state of absolute lunacy.

waddya mean "going"!!

[awayego]

Why doesn't the junta just erect a fence all around Thailand's border as well as the 'firewall'.

It is clearly the objective of these military 'buffaloes' to further isolate and impoverish their country and keep the 'sheep' under control.

They are the protectors of the long-established status quo - keep the masses in ignorance through poor education, brain-washing, mis-placed patriotism/pride in their third world country, xenophobia, and a huge fear of the power of knowledge and

freedom of speech and expression.

This latest act of lunacy, even if it can be implemented and maintained given the woeful lack of technological expertise

(although they may well call upon China's expertise in such matters!), is absolutely in keeping with the mentality of those now in power.

I pity Thailand and the Thai people more and more and say again:

Thailand - sheep led by buffaloes

[thaimat]

Clarified = Dammit the B*stards found us out!!!!

Clarified = nonsensical back pedaling, digging the hole even deeper, foot all the way in the mouth to the ankle now.

[thaimat]

Here's coconuts take on it:

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/09/25/junta-implementing-great-firewall-thailand

NBTC Deputy Chairman Setthapong said CAT, the state-owned and largest telecom in Thailand, will act as the single door to all internet gateways in Thailand when its ready.

"...There is a chance that we will be able to get service at a lower price because each telecom is renting their own gateways, but together they might get a lower price, Kitt said.

Assuming that the telcos will pass on the savings to the consumer.

I would say the cost saving element is a presumptuous attempt to stimulate public support.

Spending many many billions of baht to install, then again to maintain, laughable to think how that waste could possibly be sold as "cost saving". This may well rank right up there with the rice scheme for sheer fiduciary lunacy, by the time the final bill was paid, and the whole system scrapped for used parts due to total failure in every way. No matter how they spin it, it makes absolutely no economic sense.

[priestly]

And I am leaving China to return to Thailand mainly because of the abhorrent Chinese firewall. Here's hoping something happens and it doesn't happen in Thailand.

For anyone who's not experienced the Internet in China, welcome to 1995 dial-up, on a good day.

[retarius]

A nonsense reason.....exactly how and what savings to businesses?....what if businesses want additional security instead of having their emails read?

[nithisa78]

Not one post that implied any sort of gratitude. You get what you give and it looks like more downhill for these posters.

Thank God for life.

[Alwyn]

Doesn't matter how you dress it, a turd is still a turd

[awayego]

George Orwell would be laughing in his grave - how prophetic he was!

For "Animalism" now read "Thaism".

Take your pick as to who is "Snowball" and who is "Napoleon", but no prizes for guessing!

Thailand now equals "Oceania".

"Big Brother", "newspeak", "doublethink" and "thoughtcrime" are alive and well!

[elgordo38]

"He assured that the project will not violate any privacy or rights of individuals, claiming that this arrangement will further enhance data security as the authorities will have better access to information regarding online offences"

Is it just me or does anyone else see the contradiction there?

This whole subject has been full of government contradictions the condensed version is "Big Brother is Watching You So Watch Your Step"

[Acharn]

Any reference to "national security" is a sure giveaway of what they're up to.

[tumama]

I bet you are all missing Thaksin now.

[freedom4life]

"He assured that the project will not violate any privacy or rights of individuals, claiming that this arrangement will further enhance data security as the authorities will have better access to information regarding online offences."

What contradictions. YOU DEAR SIR ARE A NWO-SHILL. YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND AND YOU WILL BE STOPPED. Yes, you have clarified it. We will clarify it to you that many people will NOT go along with your Orwellian-society.

[smudger1951]

I found accessing the daily mail was blocked now. There is no sensible reason for this. I think expats will increasingly find their lifeline getting shredded !

[shavedPotter]

How one feed can be better than several makes no sense. Putting all your eggs in one basket goes contrary to common sense. With this logic you may as well toss your spare tire away. It seems the government is testing just how low the educational attainment is in Thailand before someone speaks up and says no.

[gabruce]

Here's coconuts take on it:

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/09/25/junta-implementing-great-firewall-thailand

NBTC Deputy Chairman Setthapong said CAT, the state-owned and largest telecom in Thailand, will act as the single door to all internet gateways in Thailand when its ready.

"...There is a chance that we will be able to get service at a lower price because each telecom is renting their own gateways, but together they might get a lower price, Kitt said.

Assuming that the telcos will pass on the savings to the consumer.

I would say the cost saving element is a presumptuous attempt to stimulate public support.

Spending many many billions of baht to install, then again to maintain, laughable to think how that waste could possibly be sold as "cost saving". This may well rank right up there with the rice scheme for sheer fiduciary lunacy, by the time the final bill was paid, and the whole system scrapped for used parts due to total failure in every way. No matter how they spin it, it makes absolutely no economic sense.

Excellent point that I hadn't considered. It is almost a guarantee that the the "gateway" won't work well. Already internet here is marginal, yet still usable (provided you don't use any Thailand DNS servers). When or hopefully this is implemented it may make most of the international internet unusable because of reliability issues. It's possible that it might work and be transparent, just very unlikely. I suppose if they only did a passive watch on traffic, similar to the NSA, and not touch the actual traffic, it might be okay. I for one am concerned.

[sawadee1947]

I'm happy because I loved the noise of 56 K connections. Back to the 20th century. So rejuvenating. Where is my Nokia 3610?

I've got one somewhere.

Battery life 30 minutes (if you were going downhill!

It's all enough to make some phonecalls to meet some friends. So don't worry. No sweat. Life will slow down...

[chilli42]

You are all missing the big picture. Imagine the tea money and kick backs for contracts and sub contracts on this project then you will fully appreciate its real value. Wouldn't you rather have a nice single gateway than a bunch of rusty old Chinese submarines?

[Usernames]

Singapore or Thailand? I just made my decision. New startup in Singapore.

[Wilsonandson]

Where will you go if the single gateway is imposed?

Where I was before I found the net I suppose. Reading actual books, painting, long walks ..

Bring out the old stash of stuck together magazines. Going down the library to read the newspaper for free and remember renting movies at blockbusters. The good old days! Taping the top 40 off the radio, no facebook, just endless phonecalls to friends. Time to dust off the playboy and penthouse magazines and revisit the past.

[jesimps]

Agreed, this is one of the plans I am 100% against.

In the report the guy said its for us to go after criminal activity.. so it is censorship for sure.

For sure that 1 gateway would bring the international sites to such a slowdown IPTV included that its just not watchable anymore.

Well said.

Yes yes, I know you don't have to like everything your beloved junta does, but for once, well said.

[sambum]

can you imagine the day a single gateway system fails?

no banks, ATMs, hotels, flights, communications, stock market, currency markets, social media.

the huge economic lost to Thailand if only for one day?

50 baht to a US dollar here we come.

If the internet goes down why would there no banks, hotels, flights, communications, stock or currency markets? All those can operate without the internet in the main. I don't agree with the proposal but you're over-dramatising it.

really? the list is so endless i could never list it all.

even for a day? no email? you know how many business in Thailand use facebook to promote their business? no online shopping? No internet bank transfers? access to account information? credit card processing? no debt cards? hotel bookings? shipping? flight booking? communications? No Skype. VOIP? LINE? no internet based phone systems? No access to your stocks in the USA? EU? UK? Forex? how do you trade stocks if all you have is a online account? how do you see market data?

a failure of a single gateway could "flash crash" the Thai stock market.

Quick, right now, what is your banks phone number? don't know? and who is going to answer the phone when suddenly there are millions of phone calls instead of internet access? and what are the people who answer the phone going to do? look at a computer which is hooked up to the internet.

"Bloomberg Breaking News. As of 10:30 hours Bangkok time internet access into Thailand has failed. The market quotes you see on the screen are not updating. We are trying to place a phone call to our Bangkok office by satellite cellphone. The Baht slipped against other currencies in the first hour of the failure."

anyway, don't worry because none of this is going to happen...

i would say the highways will be safer as there will be no more texting while driving in Thailand.

Surprised this post hasn't got more likes!

[easybullet3]

its so obvious that they want to monitor everything...

and their lame excuses are so appaulingly obvious!

this is from a country that is OBSESSED with monitoring online and blocking websites and maing people register phones with Passports and now having to show passports at Internet Cafes..

this country is so scared of what people say and do online, they are doing anything to try to monitor it.

its a shame, as this puts thailand BACKWARDS.

there is not one benefit to a Single Gateway!!!

it is for monitoring purposes only.

Bye-Bye whatever was left of Freedom.

[MaiChai]

Its not in CATs interest to have competition which gives users choice and cheaper prices. We have had CAT in the past try and compete with commercial companies and failed abysmally. Now they use government monopoly to corner the market, ensure they have control, keep prices high and offer a lousy service. Compare to government run telcos in the west; eventually these were removed and competition and free market provided choice, quality service and cheap prices for consumers.

[MaxLee]

It didn't happen yet it didn't happen yet let's hope and pray It is UN-possible to happen.......

[Balance]

Aside from the Big Brother crap, what we will get is an internet that simply does not work for 2-3 years while they get it sorted out.

If Thailand wants to join China and North Korea then the government will reap the international repercussions and then whine about outsiders not understanding Thailand. If large foreign companies have even a week of internet problems or believe that they are being monitored, they will make plans to exit. So much for economic benefits.

[JAG]

I should imagine those plans are already (being) drawn up.

I wonder how quickly they will be implemented?

Rather swiftly I suspect, if the business thinks " to he'll with it, let's just cut our losses and get out".

[MobileContent]

If they really will go for the one gateway (their was a time we had in the early 90's one gateway which was run by TOT only and it was down for days sometime. Only when Nectec took over the gateway did it actually really worked).

I might be wrong but Agoda would be the first that would close their operation in Thailand, followed by the other e-commerce players such as HotelTravel and the larger tour operators that have been over the past few years very upset of operating in Thailand. The complete supply chain business of all the car parts manufacturers in Rayong operator sophisticated systems on SAP that cost millions of dollars to be online 24/7. Even a 30 minute cut off could jam the manufacturing process of the whole plant.

I would be very very careful if I am Prayuth because with no competition and a single gateway we are back to the 90'.

In addition I would certainly move away from Thailand. I remember the early 90's when both KSC and Nectec asked me to drop by on a Saturday morning to figure out why the internet didn't worked as all staffs were not reachable, sick or didn't show up at the primitive DRC. Thailand should not emulate China. Is sad their is no one above the government to call those clowns in for a dress down.

I say it again, Thailand is going into the wrong direction. It was once a very free country but their is nothing left. Its now only about control etc but for all those peoples that supported the coup, be happy because you all deserve it as this issue is not about Thaksin. I have sold all my shares and moved the funds back overseas. The condo in Bangkok is on the market currently and the SUV is currently sold om TV.

I have a bad omen of Thailand's future for the coming 2-5 years for issues we are not allowed to talk about but I don't want to be around when the time comes.

[ravip]

Can someone who is knowledgable about these IT matters explain whether this type of thing is common in most countries?

You really dont need any IT knowledge.

Reading the news informs you about most these infringements of privacy by various governments.

Its something you go to live with in this world.

OK, one can rant away to release your frustrations, but...

[arrowsdawdle]

"He assured that the project will not violate any privacy or rights of individuals, claiming that this arrangement will further enhance data security as the authorities will have better access to information regarding online offences"

Is it just me or does anyone else see the contradiction there?

Looks pretty clear. The government plans to hold all the cards on what you can see and hear, to include blocking VPN providers, and they arbitrarily define online offences.