Phuket Police chief stumped over tourist SIM cards bypassing national security

[webfact]

Phuket Police chief stumped over tourist SIM cards bypassing national security
Tanyaluk Sakoot


Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Police, says he is powerless to prevent tourists from receiving unregistered SIM cards for mobile phones. Photo:

PHUKET: -- The arrest of a Chinese national in Phuket last Saturday for providing a Thai SIM card to a suspect in a botched gun heist in Bangkok has left the Phuket Police chief floundering about what to do with tour operators handing out Thai SIM cards to tourists.

Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Police, admitted to The Phuket News this week that he had no authority to force operators to have tourists register their SIM cards – despite the mandatory requirement for all users to register their SIM cards with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC).

The Thai Cabinet last year made the registration of prepaid Thai SIM cards a legal requirement, citing national security concerns.

In particular, in order to register a Thai prepaid SIM card the actual user must present him or herself at an official mobile phone company branch in person, and requires a photo of the SIM user’s face and presentation of his or her passport.

The issue reared its ugly head after the arrest of Chinese national Su Su, 29, in Pa Khlok on Saturday (Mar 5).

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-police-chief-stumped-over-tourist-sim-cards-bypassing-national-security-56534.php


-- Phuket News 2016-03-09

[trogers]

Same for terrorists who use a Thai nominee to get a prepaid SIM.

[eisfeld]

If your national security depends on registered sim cards, then you have much bigger problems.

You think a really bad guy can't get a sim that's not on his name? He can't pay some poor sucker to get his sim or buy one for him?

It's about mass surveillance. This way they can build massive databases of movement information of all people.

How did national security survive in the age before smartphones? Where was the apocalyps?

[terryp]

this would be funny if it wasnt so typically stupid and sad......Hub of ...........

[clockman]

Frightening thought, of these people responsible for security!

[Scouse Twoccer]

If your national security depends on registered sim cards, then you have much bigger problems.

You think a really bad guy can't get a sim that's not on his name? He can't pay some poor sucker to get his sim or buy one for him?

It's about mass surveillance. This way they can build massive databases of movement information of all people.

How did national security survive in the age before smartphones? Where was the apocalyps?

If you think that he meant that Thailand's entire national security programme depends on SIM cards being registered then it's you that has problems. SIM registration is a small part of national security for every country, not just Thailand.

Only the paranoid think that "it's about mass surveillance".

Before the age of smartphones bombs were not being detonated by smartphones, smartphones just added to any existing security issues.

[worgeordie]

They get very worried, when they cannot control EVERYTHING.

regards Worgeordie

[eisfeld]

If your national security depends on registered sim cards, then you have much bigger problems.

You think a really bad guy can't get a sim that's not on his name? He can't pay some poor sucker to get his sim or buy one for him?

It's about mass surveillance. This way they can build massive databases of movement information of all people.

How did national security survive in the age before smartphones? Where was the apocalyps?

If you think that he meant that Thailand's entire national security programme depends on SIM cards being registered then it's you that has problems. SIM registration is a small part of national security for every country, not just Thailand.

Only the paranoid think that "it's about mass surveillance".

Before the age of smartphones bombs were not being detonated by smartphones, smartphones just added to any existing security issues.

Well they said that selling anonymous sim cards threatens national security. So yes, they indeed said that it depends on registered sim cards. It might depend on a thousand other things as well but it's still a dependency.

And if they could detonate bombs before smartphones then they can still do so if smartphones turn out to be not the best tool anymore.

If you call people paranoid because mass phone data collection isn't used for mass surveillance then I suspect you are living under a rock.

[Reigntax]

Im sure the police chief is stumped by many current Phuket situations the main being how he and so many of his subordinate clowns manage to keep their jobs when law enforcement is nothing more than a facade to protect an island of organised crime.

[ChrisY1]

Niot sure about tour operators handing out sim cards which I find hard to believe.....but the phone companies are supposed to report all cards sold.......so it's not a foreigner issue!

[NamKangMan]

No sim card registration required in Vietnam.

They are easily and cheaply bought from "Mom and Pop stores" and the big retailers.

Buy one, load it up and activate "Global Roaming" using a brand new phone.

Bring the sim and phone to Thailand. Untraceable.

If a criminal wanted to have the investigation looking in another direction, buy an old secondhand phone and use that.

No point having sim registration in Thailand when next door doesn't.

Edited March 9, 2016 by NamKangMan

[petedk]

I thought that unregistered numbers were unusable.

I seem to recall having a couple of friends having their numbers blocked until they went in and registered them.

[peterrabbit]

The government will announce another crack down on Thai nominee sim card holders.

[jackh]

If your national security depends on registered sim cards, then you have much bigger problems.

You think a really bad guy can't get a sim that's not on his name? He can't pay some poor sucker to get his sim or buy one for him?

It's about mass surveillance. This way they can build massive databases of movement information of all people.

How did national security survive in the age before smartphones? Where was the apocalyps?

If you think that he meant that Thailand's entire national security programme depends on SIM cards being registered then it's you that has problems. SIM registration is a small part of national security for every country, not just Thailand.

Only the paranoid think that "it's about mass surveillance".

Before the age of smartphones bombs were not being detonated by smartphones, smartphones just added to any existing security issues.

Thats a load of BS. I travel to many countries and can freely buy and use a sim card. I don't register. Thailand is wacked out thinking a tourist is going to spend a day submitting photo, passport and fill out forms in order to use a sim card for a few days while in Thailand. What a load of rubbish!

If this is the only way Thailand has to "secure" itself then it is in a lot of trouble! How stupid they are!

[jesimps]

If your national security depends on registered sim cards, then you have much bigger problems.

You think a really bad guy can't get a sim that's not on his name? He can't pay some poor sucker to get his sim or buy one for him?

It's about mass surveillance. This way they can build massive databases of movement information of all people.

How did national security survive in the age before smartphones? Where was the apocalyps?

If you think that he meant that Thailand's entire national security programme depends on SIM cards being registered then it's you that has problems. SIM registration is a small part of national security for every country, not just Thailand.

Only the paranoid think that "it's about mass surveillance".

Before the age of smartphones bombs were not being detonated by smartphones, smartphones just added to any existing security issues.

As a fellow scouser I can't work out how you can fail to spot that the registering of sims was just another in the long list of measures being used by this govt to tighten the screws on the populous.

Try using a bit of that scouse savvy and work out the real situation here. You're giving us a bad name showing such niaivity.

Up the Redmen!

Edited March 10, 2016 by jesimps

[alfalfa19]

Perhaps he should seek direction from a more knowledgeable source.

http://yptpmagazine.com/inspector-clouseau-basileus-jacques-clouseau/

[KarenBravo]

They have been giving out free SIM cards just after immigration at Phuket airport, for years.

No paperwork is filled out, they just give you a SIM card.

[Dublin]

Another joke... international SIMS can be used all over Thailand security concerns my ass,,,,,,

[RT555]

Thais cannot control anything, rice, taxi/tuktuk thugs, sim cards, inept police taking BRIBES, shakedowns on Sukhumvit, THE NIGERIANS SELLING DRUGS OPENLY...the list is very long talking about Thai criminal activity IS RAMPANT...

[maoro2013]

What if the phone owner does not have a passport?

Something wrong with this report.

[Kabula]

The Corporations that sell the Sims should be responsible for the registration process and fined if they fail their responsibility. Punitive damages should be added on if the cell is used without a regustered card in a crime or creates financial damages for the buyer.

[KIWIBATCH]

All of this SIM card registration reminds me of a post I made many months ago when this grand idea was implemented........

At a certain condo in Bangkok many residents gave their phones to an enterprising Thai security guard who then for a fee of 100b or was it 200b (I cannot remember).....set off and registered all the phones in his name........using his ID.........a nice little money earner for him.........but an indication of what a complete farce this SIM registration thing is/was....

[Yann55]

There's our e-century in a nutshell :

Some 'technology adviser' within the administration wakes up one morning with this brilliant observation, which he immediately conveys to his boss : unregistered sim cards are a liability, because mobile phones are used by terrorists both for communicating and for detonating bombs. "Haha", says the boss "OK then, let's make it mandatory for everyone to register their sim cards"... buttons are pushed, money is spent (lots), pen-pushers get to work, announcements are made (good for the image, that), journalists journalize, the technology adviser gets a substantial pay rise (OK that's a wild guess) and within a few months, willy nilly, everyone who is not a terrorist has gone through the annoying process of registration, thinking "Oh well, at least it's for a good cause".

Not end of story, because meanwhile, of course, the handful of madmen who are in the terrorist business find one or two extremely easy ways to go around the new rule, and it's terrorist business as usual.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Yann55

[12DrinkMore]

As a fellow scouser I can't work out how you can fail to spot that the registering of sims was just another in the long list of measures being used by this govt to tighten the screws on the populous.

Try using a bit of that scouse savvy and work out the real situation here. You're giving us a bad name coming out with that sort of drivel.

Up the Redmen!

Based on two decades of searching for intelligence and intellectual development in Thailand, I have come to the conclusion that only stupidity and self-interest prevail.

There have been a number of knee-jerk led brainfarts by the clots at the top.

1. Two rounds of registering sims to prevent bombs being remotely exploded.

2. The requirement to take the id and store data in internet shops.

3. No alcohol sales between 14:00 and 17:00 to prevent school kids getting drunk.

4. No alcohol sales at 7/11s located near gas stations to prevent drunk driving.

5. The moral police trying to block porn sites.

6. Blocking of websites that they don't like.

And a few more.

[Time Traveller]

Thinking outside the box has never been strong point of Thai police or public servants. So rather than being "stumped" how about they stop their mass surveillance programs altogether

[gandalf12]

Every cell phone call sends data related to the SIM card. This is used for setting up the call routing i.e. local, national or international. There should be a database of all registered numbers but this is were incompetence could come in to play. It should be possible to check if the calling SIM is a registered one. If not then it can be blocked

[Surasak]

Latter months of last year I visited the UK and aquired a SIM , loaded up with the credit I thought I would need. On my return to LOS I stil had some credit on the card and used it a few times to make calls. It can of course be expensive but a visitor to this beautiful country can , and I sure some do, use a foreign SIM without having to regisister. Where is the security?

[Lupatria]

...any desire to open all letters sent by tourist to their home country? Oh I forgot- not enough staff with foreign language skills.

[JDGRUEN]

I don't mind ... registering SIMs is an aid in national security .. just turn the numbers off that are not registered ... it takes about 15 minutes to register .. not a day.

[madmitch]

The system is there but compliance is unnecessarily lax. The local 7-Eleven were selling SIMs and one of the guys behind the counter just registered them all in his name. Most shops selling them to tourists don't bother and as GOM said, I think they still just hand them out at the airport. It can't be so difficult to disallow use of a number until registration. Of course there are ways around it, unless they want to block the use of non Thai numbers in this country but as so often the law is in place but simply ignored.