ICT minister admits registration of prepaid phones fails to deter bomb attacks in deep South

BANGKOK: -- Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom admitted Tuesday that the registration of SIM cards of prepaid phones could not deter bomb attacks in the deep South.

Sitthichai said militants still used mobile phones to detonate bombs in southern border provinces.

Sitthichai said the effective way to prevent the bomb detonation by mobile phones was to use interference frequencies to make mobile phones unusable, which would also affect mobile phone services in the area.

-- The Nation 2006-11-07

ICT Minister indicates that sim-card registration doesn't help alleviate the unrest situation in the restive South

The Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Sitthichai Phokai-udom (สิทธิชัย โภไคยอุดม) indicated that registering sim-cards cannot help reduce the unrest situation in the restive south.

ICT Minister said that the sim-card registration helps only identify persons who are using cell-phones, adding that bombs can be triggered by mobile phones in any place. He remarked that “local residents” are key to reducing the violence in the deep South. As for the withdrawal of sim-card registration, he said that security-related agencies will consider the appropriateness.

At the same time, the ICT ministry has asked for cooperation from Malaysia to control its mobile signals after Thai officials found that Malaysian mobile signals are crossing the Thai border.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 07 November 2006