NBTC to propose special SIM cards for foreign tourists so they can be traced

[Bob12345]

14 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

I have a better idea if good Mr. Thakorn is oh so concerned about "national security": Just microchip each foreigner right at the airport like cattle.

Or even better still: Close Thailand's borders to all those pesky foreigners if they really pose such a threat to Thailand's "national security".

It wont be long till they take a look at their "ideal country" and decide that every foreigner in Thailand should be accompanied by a local "guide" who makes sure you do not take pictures of garbage at the beach, of poor people, of empty shelves in supermarkets, or of a statue of the great leader in an ugly way. 

Every hotel will have a separate floor for foreigners with electronic surveillance equipment and every evening the whole dining room will be nicely decorated and all tables will be set ready even though there are no guests.

[sahibji]

On 01/08/2016 at 5:37 PM, biplanebluey said:

I have already made this comment on another report but no reply yet so lets try again.  Now----- sex in the form of prostitution is illegal here in Thailand so what is all this rubbish about the differences in ages.Dont get me wrong I am disgusted at these people using underage girls,but they are saying that with over 18 yr old girls is OK.What is the difference ,its still illegal ,no???

 

14 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

They have got to be kidding. Good I have a local sim for over 10 years now, and they will have to remove that one from my prying hands.

 

Of course it is a blatant invasion of privacy AND I as a foreigner was also required to present my passport for my local sim to even work after their registration <deleted> two years or so ago.

 

Also, people that bring their own sim used and simply roam are not going to be easily traced, wonder if those Einsteins ever thought of that..

 

14 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

and people will still be able to get a local SIM card and anyone that does not want to be traced will opt for that.there is no use tracing people who are least of the problem. those that need to be traced are the ones who have mischief in mind and they can easily circumvent this safety net by  getting a local friend to get a SIM card for them.

 

 

 

[Deez]

[arrowsdawdle]

More racist drivel. What they are saying is that Thais don't commit crimes so no need to trace them. If showing an ID is sufficient for Thais then let foreigners show a passport to by a SIM.

[arrowsdawdle]

This has all the earmarks of building a market for illicit SIMs under the table to foreigners.

[gk10002000]

Day by day and month by month this place is just getting ridiculous since the military took over.  Pretty soon stricter martial law will be imposed.  The military doesn't need too much money so they may not care if the economy drops.  Just like any dictatorship, they tend to simply skim off the top before it gets to the people. 

[sahibji]

this is personal opinion. i would like to have a SIM card whereby I could be traced. will be useful if i wish to go hiking or trekking in jungles.

[nausea]

They don't have a clue, do they - special SIM  cards, fluent English in 3 years, close down the sex industry, encourage mass tourism, and God knows what else. I suppose that's what happens when your top positions are filled by nepotism and what have you,  rather than merit. All rather sad really.

[captspectre]

do those morons not know that REAL WORLD smart phones are locked so as to prevent other sim cards from operating in them? how would that work on a smart phone that accepts only verizon sim cards? the phone simply would not work!

[hgma]

Usual rhetoric when elections are approaching takes the heat of the divided points of view and diverts attention to the 35 million potential criminals the TAT is so happy to receive in the country.

It won't take long that they introduce a banking tracking device, monitoring us to have spent at least a fixed amount of money ...if not......next visit rejected.

Oh......w'r building in Laos.(just in case!)

[newcomer71]

The Malaysia thing is a blatant lie. There's no such special sim for foreigner tourists.
The national security thing is even more blatant lie.

Go on digging, soon they will be in Peru...

[Fairynuff]

People actually get paid to come up with nonsense like this! 

[steve0367]

I just get my wife to buy a SIM card for my iPad, I am sure most will get a local to buy a sim for them if required.

[adhd]

control, control, control

 

wait, will it protect the farangs against vicious attacks by short fuse thai angry men ?

 

thai people do not engage in illegal activities, right ?

 

 

why no special sim for POLICE FORCE ? to see if / when / where they are inforcing their own pockets

 

or actually doing their job for a change 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by adhd

[eggers]

Once again tourists (along w/ long term residents) to be treated as 2nd Class.

Shame don't apply same tracking to suspicious Thais, clean up local crime would be a good idea! 

[klauskunkel]

Quote

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thakorn said he would invite representatives of mobile phone service providers for consultations, especially the technical aspect for the system.

 

"...because the 'common senses aspect', we got that covered"

[Lupatria]

They don't even try to cover their paranoia by saying its for the tourist's safety in case they get lost in a shopping mall. Now I wait for a security freak to propose implantation of micro chips to all foreigners arriving at the airport. I'm not so sure anymore if the woman who claimed her brain is controlled by an unknown force is insane...

[toadhall]

15 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

They have got to be kidding. Good I have a local sim for over 10 years now, and they will have to remove that one from my prying hands.

 

Of course it is a blatant invasion of privacy AND I as a foreigner was also required to present my passport for my local sim to even work after their registration <deleted> two years or so ago.

 

Also, people that bring their own sim used and simply roam are not going to be easily traced, wonder if those Einsteins ever thought of that..

 

 

 

 

I totally agree, I think that they come up with new ideas to justify there existence, as the sim registration with the passport is already being applied.

  

[digibum]

54 minutes ago, Brigante7 said:

So my Thai wife will buy 2 and give one to me, problem solved.

 

Not sure, but don't Thais have to show their ID card when purchasing a SIM?  Last trip my wife arrived a few days before me and already had a SIM but when we went to get a SIM for me they started all sorts of questions about a passport and she handed them her Thai ID card and they suddenly didn't need a passport.  I assumed they allowed her to purchase the SIM and tied it to her ID card number.  Not sure though.  

[stuck]

They are obviously learning from America.

[hobobo]

14 hours ago, madmitch said:

And if the tourist doesn't own a mobile phone?

Easy. Can't enter the Kingdom!

[SymS]

Wait... The article only mentions "Foreign tourists" and "Thai nationals". What about foreigners actually living in Thailand? Are they considered tourists too?

[digibum]

2 hours ago, animalmagic said:

Some very valid and logical arguments on here.

The whole idea falls under the classification of my favourite acronym - T.I.T.S - Think It Through, Stupid.

 

Hmmmm, I dunno.  

3 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

 

I was talking about foreign sims, if they cannot even get their own systems in order, do you really believe they could put a name to a foreign sim ? Not to mention the fact that not all countries require you to register the sim using any form of ID. For example my LAO gsm sim was bought in a shop where there was no request for any identification whatsoever, even Lao Telecom cannot put a name to that sim, let alone the Thai government. My point is that say my Dutch sim, which is registered in the Netherlands, would not have a name attached for officials in Thailand, Dutch privacy laws would prevent such a thing.

 

The registration of Thai sim cards was just about a year ago, are they now claiming that system isn't capable of putting a name to a sim, and quickly locate it if needed ?

 that's utter incompetence if true. In fact I cannot possibly believe that to be true, not in this day and age. It was already embarrassing that the registration action was needed in the first place, as showing your passport has been a requirement for a long time, in fact my 10 year old sim required indentification when I bought it, but not sure if that was needed everywhere at the time. Point being, that particular sim was already registered using a passport.

 

 

I think you're missing the entire point.  You keep thinking about this in terms of their stated purpose for the special farang SIMs.  But look at what he said at the end, he said that its a matter of national security.  Petty crime is not a matter of national security.  Think about this in terms of what future events might be considered issues of national security that the military would like to temporarily suspend or control communications.  

 

It doesn't have to be an absolutely perfect system where 100% of the people on the Thai cellular network are identified and their exact location known down to 10m.  They don't have to tie your Lao or Dutch SIM cards to your specific name because if they get 70% or 80% of the phones identified that's probably all they need to effectively deal with a national security crisis.  

 

 

[spidermike007]

Just another in a series of brilliant moves, designed to sabotage the tourism industry here. Good work guys. Within 10 to 15 years the glory days of Thai tourism will be a distant memory, and most of the 5 star hotels may be out of business. Since the growth in the industry is mostly Chinese tourism, who are primarily zero baht tourists, many segments of the industry will die, if you guys keep up this nonsense. Who on earth wants to be spied upon by their hosts, while touring the country? 

 

It is my prediction, due to all of the ridiculous and nonsensical policies being put into place, that Thailand will drop from the #2 economy in ASEAN now, to #6, within 15 years. It will be overtaken by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Burma. And just ten short years ago Thailand was the 22nd largest economy in the world. It is now 29th. And it may drop to who knows where, if this keeps up. Just keep shepherding the economy and the tourism industry into oblivion guys. Good work. 

[bark]

Great Idea.

[Lizard2010]

13 hours ago, Sunderland said:

I am here!

Go Sunderland

Maybe next year with new Boss

[gwynt]

15 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

They have got to be kidding. Good I have a local sim for over 10 years now, and they will have to remove that one from my prying hands.

 

Of course it is a blatant invasion of privacy AND I as a foreigner was also required to present my passport for my local sim to even work after their registration <deleted> two years or so ago.

 

Also, people that bring their own sim used and simply roam are not going to be easily traced, wonder if those Einsteins ever thought of that..

 

 

 

 

Don't suppose they have herd of Viber Skype and other internet base messaging system.

my wife registered my SIM  against her ID 

[manhood]

Thailand tries anything to CONTROL everybody: there must be a reason and it's sure not the national security!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if you are residing in Thailand and as toruist like to buy a SIM card you have to show your passport!

So what is the reason behind of all these ideas????????

[silent]

15 hours ago, sjaak327 said:

They have got to be kidding. Good I have a local sim for over 10 years now, and they will have to remove that one from my prying hands.

 

Of course it is a blatant invasion of privacy AND I as a foreigner was also required to present my passport for my local sim to even work after their registration <deleted> two years or so ago.

 

Also, people that bring their own sim used and simply roam are not going to be easily traced, wonder if those Einsteins ever thought of that..

 

 

 

 

Need to look at where the proposal is coming from, who's saying "It's a matter of national security" and what a <deleted> money grab it is.

One that from a different perspective is Thai people in one branch telling Thai immigration that they're antiquated and useless. If the proposal were adopted it would simply be global admission.

Regardless they'll probably get bonuses for making the proposal because of the example of initiative and innovative thinking exhibited by these Einsteins.

Personally I like the idea of having to wear a foil hat to identify myself as alien and reflect the gamma rays.      

[Lizard2010]

I have had my Sim for 6 years now

SO hard to change too

I dont want another Sim

Especially that i live here

I wonder if they will want retirees to have one??

Only time will tell

What will be next

Ankle trackers!!