Single gateway for internet still under study, Thai minister says

[webfact]

Single Gateway for Internet Still Under Study, Minister Says
By Khaosod English


Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha addresses the UN General Assembly yesterday. His regime is pushing ahead with a single gateway, a system with the expressed intent of monitoring all internet traffic in Thailand.

BANGKOK — The military government’s plan to route all internet traffic in and out of the kingdom through a single gateway won’t happen anytime soon, a top official said today.

Responding to criticism over the plan, a junta deputy said today the government is still “studying” the technical feasability of the single gateway, which would enable Thai authorities to police all internet content flowing in and out of the kingdom.

“They are studying the possibility of this plan, because there is a lot of information flowing in and out,” Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong said.

Air Chief Marshal Prajin, who is also a member of the ruling military junta, said the plan is undergoing study by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology along with two of Thailand’s largest internet service providers, CAT Telecom and TOT. Both are state-owned enterprises.

The idea of the single gateway was first floated shortly after the junta came to power in the May 2014 coup, but little was heard of it again until recently, when the cabinet ordered officials to “speed up” a plan for implementation.

Officials insist that the plan would permit law enforcement to easily track down individuals who commit online crimes and post messages deemed harmful to national security.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1443513363


-- Khaosod English 2015-09-29

[EnglishJohn]

I'm still not sure - is this plan just for traffic going in and out of the country, or for ALL internet traffic ?.

Because some posters here have got themselves into a right lather thinking their LINE messages might get blocked.

The first might happen but the second definitely will not.

[MaxLee]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

[peterjackson]

QUOTE : until recently, when the cabinet ordered officials to speed up a plan for implementation

Remove foot from mouth.

It's either still at the study stage or it's about to be implemented.

My guess, given the issues the past few days, it is the latter.

[NCC1701A]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

yes... they are making the changes now. many Thai forums very slow to load. just like what they do in China for external website. Makes it next to impossible to use.

TV has been slow for days. Unusable last night from within Thailand.

[zaphod reborn]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

No. A wee bit of tech paranoia, have you?

[62strat]

They are studying the results, as they implement this... doing a internet trace I find my true connection is now being routed thru CAT. ( a Government run internet co. with an Army General in charge). It is not yet 100 percent on all websites at all times, but this is definetly slowing my commections esp to overseas sites. I think they don't have the bandwidth capacity at CAT to handle all the traffic at peak times... so the 'study' goes on for now..You can download software like Visualroute 2010 lite for free, and see the nodes and serveres between your computer and the website you connect with.... it ain't pretty !!

[ratcatcher]

“They are studying the possibility of this plan, because there is a lot of information flowing in and out,” Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong said.

Very perceptive indeed, but that sir, is precisely what the internet was intended for, the flow of information. It's a big world out there.

And you and your colleagues are trying to stop it. Bad move.

Edited September 29, 2015 by ratcatcher

[Eddy B]

I ran a speedtest and it looked good while using bkk as the hub. Going outside of Thailand was a different story. Slower but that is expected. Facebook as been erratic for the past 2 days, trying to stream tv programs is a hit and miss. I wonder if the internet companies will lower their tariffs considering we are only getting half of what we are paying for..................of course not, most likely the tariffs will be going up soon.

[samtam]

I use True for my internet. Yesterday I received an SMS saying that:

"For the best experience of your Fiber Cable Internet, True will proceed [sic] network improvement on 29/09/2015 (01.00 am -02.00 am) [sic] only specific location at Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani Province, which may interupt your internet services at some time. We aplogize for any inconvenience"

There was certainly a change of proxy settings which I use for BBC iPlayer.

Coincidence?

[NCC1701A]

I'm still not sure - is this plan just for traffic going in and out of the country, or for ALL internet traffic ?.

Because some posters here have got themselves into a right lather thinking their LINE messages might get blocked.

The first might happen but the second definitely will not.

It is for the entire internet in and out of Thailand. very packet. LINE is a primary target. They want to scan scan for watch words on a wholesale level but can't with LINE.

They already tested turning Facebook off for 30 minutes last year.

They have Glimmerglass. It lets them see the enemy and who is talking to whom. but they can't decrypt LINE text so shut it down.

http://www.glimmerglass.com/

"The company says their technology can analyse Gmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter to discover “actionable intelligence”.

Could this be the technology that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is using to tap global communications? The company says it counts several intelligence agencies among its customers but refuses to divulge details. One thing is certain – it is not the only company to offer such capabilities – so if such data mining is not already taking place, that day is not far off."

http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/glimmerglass-taps-undersea-cables-for-spy-agencies/

forum rules say i can't post additional information.

[vadimbz]

Single gateway will take months to years to implement, recent Internet issues are something else.

[baboon]

Hmm. Older posters may recall one Walter Ulbricht saying "Nobody has any intention of building a wall." Wee fibs seem to come easily to authoritarian types...

[Hawk]

Officials insist that the plan would permit law enforcement to easily track down individuals who post messages deemed harmful to national security.

Well, that's an honest answer anyway.

[fusion58]

Limited or non-existent access to sites outside of Thailand (including Facebook) for the past two days. No problem accessing sites within Thailand. Maybe it's just because I'm from a developed country, but it's hard for me to wrap my mind around the idea that some paranoid, tin horn dictator who doesn't know squat about technology is about to flush what's left of Thailand's economy down the toilet. What new ways to stymie foreign investment and businesses will they think of next?

[Rama]

Obviously no one with a real internet networking background is involved with the study. The problem with a single gateway is the same as with a pipe of water. The volume going through the pipe depends not only on the speed of the water going through but also the width of the pipe. Both can constrain the volume of water going through the pipe.

A single gateway implies a single sea cable or requiring providers to have all their connections go through a single site. Means Routing all existing cables. Neither realistic with the volumes in Thailand. Single site would mean if there was a catastrophic event at the site, or even a partial shutdown, ALL internet connections would be down. Welcome to North Korea.

It's a repeat of when Thaksin was putting up the satellites and going force internet traffic to use the satellites by limiting the amount of sea cables coming into the country. Satellites just can't handle the volume as a sea cable can.

[webfact]

INTERNET GATEWAY
'Single gateway' only for regulatory oversight: Prajin
USANEE MONGKOLPORN,
ASINA PORNWASIN
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- GOVERNMENT ministers have defended their review of Thailand's Internet gateways. Uttama Savanayana, the Information and Commun-ication Technology Minister, said there were "multiple gateways" and not a single gateway - and the latter idea was merely being studied.

"Actually, it is not to have only one gateway," he said. "The idea [of this] is how to utilise the nation's resources, Internet and telecoms. For example, is it possible to together use the international Internet gateways order to reduce costs. However, it is a study. For inbound Internet connections, is it possible to have a neutral Internet exchange and set up a joint-company to operate this while the government oversees and protects people, not violates their basic rights?

"Moreover, we need to study whether we need to have a new law to support this or not, or whether we can apply the Computer Crime Act or not."

Deputy Premier ACM Prajin Juntong said the idea of a single gateway was not to control information, but more like building a small road to become a big road. "People who are against the project misunderstand it," he said.

The government ordered the ICT Ministry to study a single gateway and was told that the ministry has appointed working panels to do this, with an ICT Ministry committee and CAT Telecom and TOT committee, Prajin said.

The CAT Telecom and TOT committee suggested it is possible to set up a single gateway since there is so much traffic sent via international Internet gateways. The huge traffic brings huge investment costs.

People against the move may misunderstand the definition of a single gateway, he said. "They assume that a single gateway means merging international Internet gateways and controlling them. However, everyone should study exactly what the ICT Ministry plans to do. If [they] oppose this without understanding, they won't be able to get together on co-development.

"We need to study how the model should be and then hear all opinions, in order to adjust the model for best operation. For now, we have not reached the stage of getting a [preferred] model," Prajin said.

He said it was impossible that the single gateway for the Internet might go down and cause the country's Internet connections to collapse.

"They don't understand the single gateway. It doesn't mean it will only be a 'single' [link] or a bottleneck. Rather, a single gateway just means integration of 'ways' that regulate [Net traffic] by an integrated regulatory body."

Colonel Sanpachai Huvanandana, acting chief executive officer of CAT Telecom, said the proposed single gateway was a concept for a 'consolidated gateway' between TOT and CAT Telecom. TOT and CAT Telecom plan to combine their assets into one and set up a combined organisation, which would take time.

For national security, the government needs to have a solid organisation to oversee things - not CAT Telecom and TOT. All this must be done under the law. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission's role was to oversee Internet traffic, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Single-gateway-only-for-regulatory-oversight-Praji-30269841.html


-- The Nation 2015-09-30

[canuckamuck]

What they mean to say is that, we really need an easier way to spy on Thai citizens. That way if any of them get any political ideas or become critical of the government. We can pick them up and get them the help they need at the attitude adjustment camps.

Happiness for the people.

[ramrod711]

Officials insist that the plan would permit law enforcement to easily track down individuals who post messages deemed harmful to national security.

Well, that's an honest answer anyway.

Officials insist that the plan would permit law enforcement to easily track down individuals who commit online crimes and post messages deemed harmful to national security.

You beat me to it, that was the item that caught my attention. What is harmful, and who gets to "deem" it so.

[MZurf]

I'm still not sure - is this plan just for traffic going in and out of the country, or for ALL internet traffic ?

Does it matter, John? Even you must admit this is a preposterous idea either way, or....?

[allan michaud]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

yes... they are making the changes now. many Thai forums very slow to load. just like what they do in China for external website. Makes it next to impossible to use.

TV has been slow for days. Unusable last night from within Thailand.

No everything works just fine.

[oneday]

"...which would enable Thai authorities to police all internet content flowing in and out of the kingdom..."

No, no, no, that is not what we said it was for (even though it really is). We said it was to be more efficient and help businesses save money and we are sticking by that BS sound idea.

[jaywalker]

"The military government’s plan to route all internet traffic in and out of the kingdom through a single gateway won’t happen anytime soon, a top official said today." = it will probably happen tomorrow.

[Khun Paul]

WELCOME TO 1984, WHERE THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS EVERYTHING YOU DO. Now with the non-elite getting more information than the ELITE deem allowable , then this is a way to curb the knowledge and the peons.

WAKE UP THAILAND YOUR FREEDOMS ENSHINED BY M,ANY A CHARTER AND CONSTITUTION ARE AT RISK . You are not allowed to critise the Government or you might get some Attitude Adjustment , sort of modern day Auschwitz without the Gas Chambers

[Muirton]

I stumbled on a website weeks back that I assumed would inform me of Liverpool's most recent Premier League triumph. The name of the site: whatsthescore.com Access to the site: Denied. For three weeks.

That is a level of stupidity typical of everything, no exception, the current administration handles so I'm not too worried about their firewall. My guess is they will give it a real try, not just the elbow in the bath-water --then be informed of the ghastly consequences, precisely like the alcohol ban that, till now, is the single most stupid "plan" [it's interesting that Thai had to import the falang word]. We all stay tuned.

[Seastallion]

"a junta deputy said today the government is still “studying” the technical feasability of the single gateway, which would enable Thai authorities to police all internet content flowing in and out of the kingdom."

There. Out in the open.

Hey guys, if you really want to keep on considering it, have a listen firstly to the Thai businesses that said it's a bad idea, then have a read of the TVF comments on the subject...even though the comments come from non-Thais, you should at least have enough common sense to realise that some farang opinions are valuable.

[DDbkh]

Facebook crashed worldwide Monday night our time.

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

[GAZZPA]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

No. A wee bit of tech paranoia, have you?

Don't think its paranoia. I had to call my service provider and ask them to reboot as my laptop was hanging and internet usage became all but impossible.

They rebooted, got a bit faster and then slowed right back up again within the hour.

I did wonder whether something had been done but I initially point my finger at the service provider.

Today, ok, so far,,,

[realenglish1]

My 2 cents worth. If they succeed in implementing a single gateway then this will be the downfall of the current leader. No one and I mean no one with any sense of

the outside world here in Thailand will accept this.

They need to tread lightly on this issue. The old saying goes Once you open Pandora's box you cannot close it again.

The Pandora of the Internet and free access has been around for more than 25 years so trying to cap it will have I am sure severe reaction from the Thais

[slipperylobster]

I knew they would somehow run a BETA testing today,.... has anyone been experiencing any snail a**** connection problems, with Microsoft Outlook not working, Social Media down, and even Thaivisa not loading, from 12.00 pm to 1.45 pm?

Does anyone have any problems Facebook loading not corrrectly?

No. A wee bit of tech paranoia, have you?

Don't think its paranoia. I had to call my service provider and ask them to reboot as my laptop was hanging and internet usage became all but impossible.

They rebooted, got a bit faster and then slowed right back up again within the hour.

I did wonder whether something had been done but I initially point my finger at the service provider.

Today, ok, so far,,,

Even back home in the states...an ISP can throttle you down, if you are found to be downloading torrents and such. I am not sure whether they do that here on not.