Plan to track all foreigners - NOT JUST TOURISTS - by SIM cards moves forward

[Gweiloman]

5 minutes ago, tails said:

 

distribute? they probably cut your service then force you to buy one, I highly doubt they will pay for it!

 

How would they cut the service of a normal tourist who's just here for a few days and using roaming on his phone? 

[Bangkok Barry]

First question: How do they propose forcing every foreigner to change their Sim card?

Second question: What are tourists who will still be allowed to use their foreign card for roaming to do with the additional foreigner Sim card which they MUST have if their phone can take just one Sim card? Wear it on their head?

Third question: Someone I know had their wife show her ID card when his Sim card was purchased, rather than his passport. Just for convenience at the time. How do they treat that card used by a foreigner but registered as a Thai card card?

Fourth question: Will TAT promote Thailand as a country that treats every visitor to the country as a criminal who must by law be issued with a tracking device?

Fifth question: How will they force every foreigner, especially tourists who will laugh and throw it in the nearest bin, to actually use it?

But not to worry. Next week the plan will probably be abandoned due to 'technical reasons' (translation: too stupid to work).

Edited August 9, 2016 by Bangkok Barry

[KenKadz]

Another *half nice* idea by the powers that be.

This indicates that the military government wants to take back control of all communications again, like it was before Taksin and his cronies made cell phones - internet - satellite/cable TV available to the masses, when all TV and Radio channels were military channels.

Wonder if they have thought this idea, and it's variables/impacts, all the way through to completion yet?

Naw.... Mi Pen Li!

[monkey4u]

3 hours ago, IMA_FARANG said:

So what happens if you DON"T have a SIM card and don't use a cellphone?

You will be unknown to them

My wife has both sim cards in her name

I don't exist 

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

13 minutes ago, Mango Bob said:

I will buy a cheap phone put that sims in it and keep it turn on with no money in it and keep it in my safe.

Better still keep it in the septic tank that way they have to go through a lot of shzt to find you.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere
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[MobileContent]

My guess the deal will soon be signed with CP Group (True Mobile) as DTAC and AIS are very much foreign owned. Maybe TOT/CAT and True do a deal together.

[peterb17]

Hate to say is this anything different than happens in Europe? 

 

In London they estimate you are captured by up to 600 cameras everyday- face recognition. 

 

The car tax system now works on number plate recognition - where ever you drive - it is flagged up if you do not have tax, insurance , checks for older cars . 

 

Mobiles can  be analyzed to the second. 

 

Thailand is just catching up 

 

It's a bit scary- but if you are just going about everyday life and have nothing to hide - I really do not care . 

[mki8]

2 minutes ago, Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere said:

It's  just another excuse to make non Thais cough up another fee for being in their great country. Or did you think their mandatory Sim will be free? What about service fee for this Track-A-Criminal technology? Wasn't this technology supposed to be for tracking paroled felons and those on house arrest? Next thing after non compliance is they will make it mandatory by locked bracelet or implant. 

just what i thought, maybe someone has just cut a deal with true, ais and dtac to get themselves an earner,

with a few million (just guessing) foreigners probably already with sims registered in their names that would need replacing, and the number of "tourist" sim cards (like advertised at airport) they sell each year, times that by 100 baht, or maybe even more as they are "special" and you can see quite a bit to be earned.

[balo]

I think this new idea is meant for prepaid sim cards only. I have been a customer with DTAC on a postpaid subscription for 5 years already. So they can track every move I make If they want to. I am happy with the package , just don't change the rates I'm paying .

[Chao Lao Beach]

3 hours ago, oilinki said:

I'm quite curious about the technical solution. Why a special SIM card is needed or is it just a way to say, that these numbers will be actively triangulated without a warrant?

 

AFAIK there are no GPS enabled SIM cards yet. 

 

One possibility could be that these SIM are using specific APN for 'free' channel to broadcast phone's GPS information to the government and it would be mandatory for foreigners to have GPS enabled on their phones?

 

 

 

 

I would like to know too, curious.

[maewang99]

none of this should be taken at all seriously. Google, Facebook and Microsoft? yes. Thailand? no.

[F4UCorsair]

Who cares?  Only those who are up to no good will give a damn about this.

I don't care if foreigners are tracked in my own country, so why should I care if I'm tracked in another?  If I don't like it, I won't travel there.

[DrTuner]

I'm sure the foreign diplomats in BKK will love this idea.

[Jeffrey346]

Next they will have a big  F sewn on your shirt and a number tattooed on your forearm..

[walkoff]

18 minutes ago, MaiChai said:

There are 60 million Thais in Thailand and a much smaller percent of foreigners; lets say 100,000. So statistically who will commit most of the crimes?

 

Since we all have to register sim cards with our passports anyway, this is rather pointless? They can track us already? What is it with those who are in power who are idiots?

The amount of revenue which has graced Thailand from foreigners(not businesses,) to support families and all that goes along with that has to be substantial. I'm being polite because I do not see too many info-graphs giving us a feeling of worth to the GDP of this "best of the least miserable countries" in the world. TAT puts numbers up, every ministry puts up feel good numbers(oops, until Sunday, Foreign Direct Investment was really not good and consumer sentiment was better but the mention of the rising household debt did not rate a lot of keyboard input. Being too negative here. Let's see how things pickup not just for businesses but the everyday living/expenses/income for the middle dwellers.  

[Merylhighground]

4 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

Hate to say is this anything different than happens in Europe? 

 

In London they estimate you are captured by up to 600 cameras everyday- face recognition. 

 

The car tax system now works on number plate recognition - where ever you drive - it is flagged up if you do not have tax, insurance , checks for older cars . 

 

Mobiles can  be analyzed to the second. 

 

Thailand is just catching up 

 

It's a bit scary- but if you are just going about everyday life and have nothing to hide - I really do not care . 

 

Maybe, but in London such surveillance isn't limited/aimed at foreigners exclusively, indeed in London foreigners enjoy the same rights as the locals, they may get a fair trial in the case of being prosecuted, are unlikely to become the victim of a shakedown by a mafia posing as a police force I could go on and on as to why your comparison falls on it's botty....

[Morakot]

Not sure if my mobile is compatible with these new SIM cards.

 

[tropo]

3 hours ago, IMA_FARANG said:

So what happens if you DON"T have a SIM card and don't use a cellphone?

My old dumb phone is off most to time. I only keep it with me in case of emergencies. Going low tech has its advantages.

[TPI]

3 hours ago, Inn Between said:

This is just plain silly. It's typical jaw wagging and nothing more. It can't be implemented.

 

Are they going to have everybody who enters the country stop at the immigration desk and switch out their own (roaming) SIM for a the junta government's George Orwell Approved equivalent of a house arrest ankle monitor? Insane idea! And people who wear uniforms with lots of colorful and shiny things on them get paid for coming up with this stuff? Amazing!

It's pretty silly isn't it, let's say about 1 million foreigners in the country at the moment..who, what ,where. when,how and why are they doing things right now? How many are involved in nefarious deeds? And do they have their phones in their pocket?

 

Some where in the world there is a village short of its idiot!

[ncc1701d]

Whilst I don't care, it just seems like a colossal waste of money with no particular purpose.

[Swedenlars]

Why they dont implant a chip when the tourist arrives at the airport. They do that on dogs, dont they ?  For the Thais a farang has no bigger value than a dog anyway. OK, microchipping costs about 50 $. But this is no problem either. The tourist would have to pay this of course.

[ezflip]

Until the "Authorities" reveal the consequences of not having traceable SIM card, this whole matter is just hot air.

 

When they do start speaking about fines and/or denial of entry into the country, then we can start grumbling...

[robertthesculptor]

Adolf Hitler would have been so proud... Funny because the greater part of crime is Thai on Thai... Sounds actually like another money making scam that will turn into a huge debacle.

[tropo]

3 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

Good question. They might brand the number 666 on your forehead. Expect the junta to go full bore ahead now that the referendum is in the rear view mirror. All major crime must be cleaned up if they are setting their sights on this petty BS

Next step - implanting microchips under your skin when you arrive, or better yet, make it a condition of entry that you already have one.

Edited August 9, 2016 by tropo

[Psychic]

Just a few random thoughts on this latest work of genius.

30 million visitors every year. Not all get sims but those that do will have to register their passport and information.

That information will be on multiple databases now...the phone companies and the government and as the snafus with the government database being leaked on the web that is a significant threat of identity theft.

Then again, if they want to cancel the numbers, that means they have to check all those passports against the registered SIMs. 30 million a year. Then notify the telco to let them know they're dead. Nice piece of empire building by some bureaucrat.

Finally, I think this going to save me money. 95% of the incoming calls I get are from my wife, usually asking me to buy something. Similarly 95% of the outgoing calls on my postpaid phone are from her because "they're free".

To save this aggravation of getting a "farang sim" I think I'll just cancel my account entirely.

 

 

[sambum]

33 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Tourism is very important to the Thai economy   Expats spend a fraction of the money that tourists spend.  Thailand as a country do not like immigrants  (ie ex-pats) but tolerate them if they bring something to the table.  Everything else is just hot air

 

Sorry to disagree, but you seem to forget the fact that tourists are here for a few weeks at most. While they are here, they may spend more than your average expat, but expats are here ALL the time, so taken over a year, I would think that the expat spends considerably more than a tourist.

 

For example, a tourist on a month's holiday may spend  approximately 100,000 baht.

An expat living here on a modest budget of half that amount per month (50,000 baht) spends 600,000 baht in one year. 

 

So,  "Expats spend a fraction of the money that tourists spend."? 

 

WRONG!

 

 

 

[Monkeyrobot]

Just put your phone on airplane mode and use free wifi and call your friends on Line,Viber or what's app . If you want to make a call just turn of the airplane mode. I feel sorry for the paranoid people out there , They are coming to get you. 

[andre47]

Already for a long time I must write on every immigration form my phone number. If I don't do it, they ask me to do. Therefore I'm sure that they can track and tracked foreigner's (and Thai citizens as well) already for a long time. Here in Thailand they don't need a court decision for that. They just do it and you don't know. Of cause they track you only if they want and have some reason. All movements and phone connections are saved by the phone companies and can be analysed quite a long time. I don't worry about it, but it is a bad feeling. 

[majhiggins]

Especially with all the retired expats spending their entire pension and savings right here in the kingdom. It's part of the love/hate thing they have with us. They need us for our money and skills but also find us to be handy scapegoats. I'm hardly someone to talk. As an American, this sounds like an idea from Donald Trump.

[tropo]

2 minutes ago, sambum said:

 

Sorry to disagree, but you seem to forget the fact that tourists are here for a few weeks at most. While they are here, they may spend more than your average expat, but expats are here ALL the time, so taken over a year, I would think that the expat spends considerably more than a tourist.

 

For example, a tourist on a month's holiday may spend  approximately 100,000 baht.

An expat living here on a modest budget of half that amount per month (50,000 baht) spends 600,000 baht in one year. 

 

So,  "Expats spend a fraction of the money that tourists spend."? 

 

WRONG!

 

 

 

Don't forget that it is assumed that an expat needs to spend 65K minimum per month or 800K per year, which is less than I spend. The average tourist doesn't stay here for a month, but I reckon I spend at least as much as they do. I'm guessing the average tourist in Thailand is a budget traveller.