Army launches cyber unit tackling distorted information

[Get Real]

Just now, sambum said:

Oh, for goodness sake - lighten up! You said "treats" - the article said "threats" I was merely trying to inject some seasonal humour into your misspelling!

Sorry, Dude! I missed it. Just didn´t see my missspelling even when I read your post. LOL

[PaulBraveheart]

[Lupatria]

Next step: random nightly house visits and a "Blockwart" in every 8th condominium.

[Bangkok Barry]

They don't get it now and they never will - they can stop people talking in public, but they cannot stop people thinking and they cannot stop people talking in private. And that is why, eventually, the country will undergo a revolution similar to what happened in France and Russia. It's only a matter of time.

[Wilsonandson]

Is this what you want?

[The Deerhunter]

Several people have asked "What is mis-information?"  The answer is that it is rather like pornography.  No one knows how to define it but the pro censorship people always know how to recognise it when they see it.  This will be the same.  You may not know you have broken the law until you are arrested.

 

But remember, TIT and we all know the subjects they do not like us commenting on but some insist on doing it, just out of curiosity to see if they can get away with it, or because they forget where they are momentarily.

 

Just remember, there used to be a final arbiter that could pardon some who erred, but that particular avenue finally ceased to exist a week or two ago.  Those who would like to press against the envelope would be well advised to remember that.

 

Remember that Thai saying, "Sum Num Nah!" Translation?  "You brought it upon yourself."  

 

This situation is obviously not going to start changing in the the other direction anytime soon and you probably already know or can guess most of the rules.  Don't be silly boys and girls.  It is not worth it if you want to live here peacefully.  If you do want to experiment, then remember to keep your toothbrush and a spare change of underclothes with you 24/7!!!

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

You don´t have to live in lies??? Isn´t it like this. If you go to the pub and tell somebody that they are, for example, to stupid and not can lay straight in bed. What happens? You probably will get the beating of your life, but that had nothing to do with freedom of speech. It was just you that didn´t know when it´s time to be quiet.

My rank is just 16 years in Thailand with absolutely no problem. What´s your excuse? LOL

but we aren't talking about a man down the pub. People in power need to be more diplomatic and set examples of good conduct. Giving someone a beating is illegal whatever that person has said. You can't go around hitting people for hurting your feelings. 

 

If you say truly awful things about people online then you usually get kicked off. If it's racist or insighting hatred etc, then it can become a legal argument with cases put forward, and not simply made up on a whim because it offended you. 

 

No one has the right to never be offended. And no one person or small group of people can define what's offensive. 

[Liverpool Lew]

"Enemies of the State".  What a very telling phrase.  Communists tend to refer to "enemies of the people", to partially disguise their real intent.  Only fascists are blatant and hard-nosed enough to unmask their words so.

 

Gen up on the Spanish Civil War and aftermath - some chilling parallels are already in place.

 

Dark days ahead.  Glad I'm only an occasional visitor ... and probably not again for some considerable time yet.

[Wilsonandson]

47 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

but we aren't talking about a man down the pub. People in power need to be more diplomatic and set examples of good conduct. Giving someone a beating is illegal whatever that person has said. You can't go around hitting people for hurting your feelings. 

 

If you say truly awful things about people online then you usually get kicked off. If it's racist or insighting hatred etc, then it can become a legal argument with cases put forward, and not simply made up on a whim because it offended you. 

 

No one has the right to never be offended. And no one person or small group of people can define what's offensive. 

Tell me about it, I know!!!

Be careful what you say indeed!

Naughty boys lose their toys.

[JAG]

3 hours ago, Jim walker said:

Sounds like some general has purchased an I phone 7 and is now going to show how an international hacker operates and also show the world how much the Thai people love a good junta.  and takes a good picture to boot.

 

Oh there's more to it than that, they've been down to Pantip Plaza and stocked up on bootleg sets ow Windows XP......

[JAG]

2 hours ago, Get Real said:

Freedom of speech is unfortunately a word that is used in the wrong way by many people today, and does definitely not mean what it meant when it was created. Today everyone think it´s okey to write or post whatever they want, beacause it´s so simple on Internet. If you express your opinion in a well behaved manor and really have something of substance that is creative to say, there is not any problem in Thailand either. Unfortunately most of all comments on for example Facebook, or in the real world are negative and rude. That makes the system have to go in and supress this harder than neccessary.

 

Instead of just ignoring it, and getting on with something that may actually benefit the people then?

[LingLek]

3 hours ago, mki8 said:

so basically they have set up a building with 200 employees, searching facebook for posts they dont like

 

 

3 hours ago, Mook23 said:

some farlang dropping on pavement is lowest priority here. insulting the uninsultable is a totally different story!

What are you implying? Lowest priority?! Outrageous! I nearly choked on my false teeth.

Scandalised of Chipping Sodbury

 

[wealthychef]

I think the comments to this article are disrupting social order and must be suppressed.  I remember interviewing for a job in Saudi Arabia and being denied because I failed the "social interview" which basically was supposed to establish that I'm sheeplike enough to accept their oppressive societal norms without question.  I wonder how long I'll last in "wild and crazy Thailand" if I'm not allowed to voice a simple opinion online.    

[Get Real]

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

but we aren't talking about a man down the pub. People in power need to be more diplomatic and set examples of good conduct. Giving someone a beating is illegal whatever that person has said. You can't go around hitting people for hurting your feelings. 

 

If you say truly awful things about people online then you usually get kicked off. If it's racist or insighting hatred etc, then it can become a legal argument with cases put forward, and not simply made up on a whim because it offended you. 

 

No one has the right to never be offended. And no one person or small group of people can define what's offensive. 

Yes, okey. You are perfectly right that it can be a bad explaination of a much more complicated situation. As you say people in power must be more diplomatic and set examples of good conduct, but wouldn´t it be preferable that ordinary people also has to show a certain part of dipomacy och good conduct. That´s where the problem lays today. The understanding of people regarding following rules, show interest of state and governing and the understanding of how democracy works is very poor. Until the people understnd about democracy and let´s a sitting government rule for the elected period, all the things applied by the military now is necessary for educating the population in understnding and following rules. That´s why they have to go in and be a group that define what´s offensive or not, due to the lack of understanding.

[wealthychef]

2 minutes ago, Get Real said:

people in power must be more diplomatic and set examples of good conduct, but ... they have to go in and be a group that define what´s offensive or not, due to the lack of understanding.

 Because we all know how wise and just they are compared to the ignorant peons in society.  Instead of providing good education, they need to line their own pockets and make strict laws restricting speech.  Makes perfect sense.  

[Get Real]

Just now, wealthychef said:

 Because we all know how wise and just they are compared to the ignorant peons in society.  Instead of providing good education, they need to line their own pockets and make strict laws restricting speech.  Makes perfect sense.  

Maby it doesn´t make sense to you. You have one thing perfectly right. The education is poor but there is also many people that does not care about the education they get. However, the restriction of speech that this mostly regards is the lese majeste law. This law is nothing new and something that been there all the time in Thailand, but know they are actually enforcing the law which must be a plus instead of looking from a far distance. As you surely understand when it comes a military regime in power due to that people can´t stop fighting in the street and killing each other, that government will also be the once that control things with a much harder grip regarding other things too. Regarding lining their own pockets that is going on in most of the countries in the world when it comes to people in power. Just that it is much more visible and open to peoples eyes in Thailand.

[wealthychef]

1 minute ago, Get Real said:

Maby it doesn´t make sense to you. You have one thing perfectly right. The education is poor but there is also many people that does not care about the education they get. However, the restriction of speech that this mostly regards is the lese majeste law. This law is nothing new and something that been there all the time in Thailand, but know they are actually enforcing the law which must be a plus instead of looking from a far distance. As you surely understand when it comes a military regime in power due to that people can´t stop fighting in the street and killing each other, that government will also be the once that control things with a much harder grip regarding other things too. Regarding lining their own pockets that is going on in most of the countries in the world when it comes to people in power. Just that it is much more visible and open to peoples eyes in Thailand.

 

Those are perfectly fair points, but the solution in my view is not to clamp down harder; it's to improve education and share the wealth.  Which model do the Thais want to follow, Beloved Leader/North Korea, or secular democracy and moral progress as the good King wished his whole life?  I'm probably overreacting because I don't fully understand the nuances here, I admit.  

[Get Real]

Just now, wealthychef said:

 

Those are perfectly fair points, but the solution in my view is not to clamp down harder; it's to improve education and share the wealth.  Which model do the Thais want to follow, Beloved Leader/North Korea, or secular democracy and moral progress as the good King wished his whole life?  I'm probably overreacting because I don't fully understand the nuances here, I admit.  

If I would have to choose I fully agree with you that secular democracy and moral progress would be the only choice. The problem though is that they tried with that during many governments, and they always find a way to create a protest with ingredients like riots, violence and destruction in the streets until the government falls. The main point is that people ain´t ready for a democracy due to that they can not accept an election and live with it until the next election. You are definitely not overreacting, and you are totally rigth that good education is necessary to achieve an understanding of rules and democracy, but first the people must learn to live with rules and start to interest themselfs for an education and more society and political knowledge. That will probably sadly not happen in the next 50 years, due to that everything here goes very slowly when it comes to a change of living and understanding.

[trainman34014]

5 hours ago, mki8 said:

so basically they have set up a building with 200 employees, searching facebook for posts they dont like

 

 

 

Yep; and they will cast another medal for it to add to all the others that mean jack shit !

[In the jungle]

It makes crystal clear that the army's role is internal suppression.

 

Though we knew that already.

 

 

[cncltd1973]

6 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

I think all of us that live here understand the reality of what truth, reality look like here.

 

The problem that the junta and ultra royalists are confronted with is a new age. Whereas before is was easy to censor and control what the populous could see in TV and newspapers, the digital age and the masses of Thai's who go abroad to work has unleashed vast amounts of information rather unpalatable to the fake facade everyone is supposed to believe.

 

The suppression and intimidation is more than likely to increase at least in the short term. The problem is, all they are doing is building a pressure cooker, which eventually will explode. The problem is their myopic view of the world will ultimately result in their own destruction

Could be timed for the transition of the prince to take the throne. That'll be a change in diet that will produce a spike in internet comments that the gov will rather prosecute early as lese majesty, than to have it snowball into outward public discontent, e.g. protests and clashes.

[ScotBkk]

8 hours ago, Dunky said:

Seems like they are allocating time and resources to what they perceive to be pressing issues once again. Never mind about silly matters like improving the economy or the standard of living for the people living in the kingdom!

 

Bitter people are not interested in what you say, but what you hide. Paranoia has set in showing one believes their foothold is at risk doing anything and everything to protect its position......., 

The end is nigh !!!! 

 

[wealthychef]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

If I would have to choose I fully agree with you that secular democracy and moral progress would be the only choice. The problem though is that they tried with that during many governments, and they always find a way to create a protest with ingredients like riots, violence and destruction in the streets until the government falls. The main point is that people ain´t ready for a democracy due to that they can not accept an election and live with it until the next election. You are definitely not overreacting, and you are totally rigth that good education is necessary to achieve an understanding of rules and democracy, but first the people must learn to live with rules and start to interest themselfs for an education and more society and political knowledge. That will probably sadly not happen in the next 50 years, due to that everything here goes very slowly when it comes to a change of living and understanding.

 

It seems to me that Thailand is a truly interesting experiment in democracy.  The real problem is not that people find a way to create a protest with riots, but that the people are not satisfied with the level of corruption in their government.  If the government were to truly provide for its people in a clearly honest way, there would be no riots in my view.  This is not idealism on my part, even a messy but honest implementation would satisfy people.  The truth is very likely that the implementation is halfway, because the powerful elites cling to their wealth and power.  The only solution to powerful elites taking all the goodies has always been popular revolt.  To quote our JFK from the USA:  "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."  

[Xircal]

5 hours ago, Get Real said:

Freedom of speech is unfortunately a word that is used in the wrong way by many people today, and does definitely not mean what it meant when it was created. Today everyone think it´s okey to write or post whatever they want, beacause it´s so simple on Internet. If you express your opinion in a well behaved manor and really have something of substance that is creative to say, there is not any problem in Thailand either. Unfortunately most of all comments on for example Facebook, or in the real world are negative and rude. That makes the system have to go in and supress this harder than neccessary.

 

Writing a post on a forum is subject to the rules created by the administrator which most users adhere to, but that's different to merely expressing your opinion about a given subject. In Thailand, freedom of expression has been outlawed along with political dissent both of which can be conducted in a democratic society without fear of retribution.

 

You mentioned Facebook and refer to 'rude' or 'negative' comments which often appear there. But making either shouldn't be considered to be a crime even if criticism is aimed at the current administration. In a democratic society noone need have any fear of arbitrary arrest in the middle of the night and then held incommunicado in a military detention centre somewhere merely for expressing their opinion.

 

Since gatherings of five or more people have been banned nobody is at liberty to demonstrate now since doing so can land them in jail. That may give the impression that people are happy with their lot while in fact the opposite is the case.

 

We've now seen moves to try and monitor the LINE chat app by which chats can be conducted in secrecy even though most are benign. If LINE doesn't comply with the junta's wishes to allow chats to be monitored it could end up being banned. I don't think that would go down well even with the most passive of Thai users and could escalate quite quickly given the number of users in Thailand. It'll be interesting to see what happens now that LINE has told the junta to take the matter up with the Japanese government.

 

[hawker9000]

8 hours ago, Get Real said:

Freedom of speech is unfortunately a word that is used in the wrong way by many people today, and does definitely not mean what it meant when it was created. Today everyone think it´s okey to write or post whatever they want, beacause it´s so simple on Internet. If you express your opinion in a well behaved manor and really have something of substance that is creative to say, there is not any problem in Thailand either. Unfortunately most of all comments on for example Facebook, or in the real world are negative and rude. That makes the system have to go in and supress this harder than neccessary.

"If you express your opinion in a well behaved manor and really have something of substance that is creative to say, there is not any problem in Thailand either. "

 

Sorry, BS.  Furthermore, even negativity & rudeness does not disqualify something as free speech.   Free speech is free speech because it's left up to the listener to decide what's worth listening to, not the "system".  I'm sure the Nazis had the same definition you do.

[wealthychef]

24 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

"If you express your opinion in a well behaved manor and really have something of substance that is creative to say, there is not any problem in Thailand either. "

 

Sorry, BS.  Furthermore, even negativity & rudeness does not disqualify something as free speech.   Free speech is free speech because it's left up to the listener to decide what's worth listening to, not the "system".  I'm sure the Nazis had the same definition you do.

 

Godwin's Law aside, I agree that the remedy for bad speech is not less speech, it's more speech.  The only exception in my home country USA is when it will precipitate immediate harm, such as inciting a mob to violence or yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre.  Criticizing the government is not grounds for arrest and should not be, regardless of how ignorant you think the people criticizing are.  

 

24 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

 

[stephen tracy]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Thanks, I really appreciate your creative comment. Very outspoken and intelligent.

 It was neither creative, nor outspoken, as you suggest but at the very least, it was succinct and not the usual naïve, misguided, knee-jerk reaction sometimes offered by foreign residents of Thailand in the pro and anti junta camps.  You did not make a single comment that was not baseless.  Having said that, you are not alone. 

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, stephen tracy said:

 It was neither creative, nor outspoken, as you suggest but at the very least, it was succinct and not the usual naïve, misguided, knee-jerk reaction sometimes offered by foreign residents of Thailand in the pro and anti junta camps.  You did not make a single comment that was not baseless.  Having said that, you are not alone. 

" the usual naïve, misguided, knee-jerk reaction sometimes offered by foreign residents of Thailand in the pro and anti junta camps " Just don´t get it. To many words combined to make sense. Have stayed long time in this country without any kind of problem. maybe that´s a proof of that the "naive, misguided, knee-jerk reaction" does not exist. What do I know. I just live by long time experience in a for me beautiful country with mostly nice people. You view must be a totally different one, out of your experience. As we all say "Opinions barried", and in this case nobody can be happier than me. As for baseless I also do not understnd what you mean, but maby I am the one that needs an education.

[maoro2013]

Big brother is warming up.

[performance]

Look we all know Prayut is a movie buff. His a fan of the crime show Blue Bloods produced abroad of course.  Chalemchai has been instructed to use key words during media interviews. These words have been passed down..The most recent Enemies of the State. A great movie actually. In another statement on BKK Post he used the word mechanism. Another word Prayut has handed down to the circus. Great they are experimenting with a 150 kids to see if there computers are working.

Edited November 2, 2016 by performance