Government Orders Great Firewall of Thailand

[JamesWest]

Wonder if this is true? just intercepted on TweetDeck.
I think it would be impossible for them to do because businesses would just go away.

"General Prayuth’s cabinet ordered the ICT and Justice Ministries and the National Police Department to set up a single internet gateway in order to control inappropriate websites and to control the flow of information into the country from overseas via the internet."

"The cabinet resolution was just unearthed on social media by someone browsing the official government cabinet resolution repository. Prem Sichanugrist or @sikachu on Twitter said, “Yes. Thailand is about to have The Great Firewall just like China, except it will be s****ier and corrupted as hell”.

http://www.telecomasia.net/blog/content ... l-thailand

http://www.thailandnews.co/2015/09/gove ... -thailand/

after searching twitter i found the original source in thai:

http://pr.prd.go.th/chaiyaphum/ewt_news.php?nid=9060

looks serious. this is my serious face.

[Khundon1975]

James
What's the bet they buy a system from China.

Lets face it, whatever they put in place, China will hack into it, better to save the Chinese the trouble and get a discount from them.

[buksida]

They've been working on this for years, in fact Thaksin was the first one to initiate cooperation with China on cyber security years ago to block websites that said anything against him.

A lot has been documented here over the years (amazed it isnt blocked): https://facthai.wordpress.com/

[JamesWest]

i wonder if they will change the default password? hahahaha...

all of thailand shut down with admin 12345.

[StevePIraq]

In recent years Thailand hasn't shied away from banning websites that slander its leaders or display explicit pornography, but its Internet hasn't been systemically censored like China's. That all may be set to change though, as the country's military government is reportedly laying the political groundwork to dramatically restructure Thailand's Internet, according to an official government release.

cnet.com/news/thailand-aims-to-build-its-own-great-firewall-of-internet-censorship

I bet that Phuket scam would be quickly removed from the net

[PeteC]

I guess it's time to seriously research using a VPN and the cost. That is assuming that a VPN can breach or avoid any firewall? Is that a correct assumption? I've read bits and pieces that they are/were in use in China but they have now found a way to identify and close them down as well. Pete

[JamesWest]

I guess it's time to seriously research using a VPN and the cost. That is assuming that a VPN can breach or avoid any firewall? Is that a correct assumption? I've read bits and pieces that they are/were in use in China but they have now found a way to identify and close them down as well. Pete

guess it is time to LEAVE. Or get one of those internet satellites uplinks. expensive.

this will really set Thailand back. can't see it happening. but if it does, the USD will be 50 to the baht after the economy collapses.

it is one thing to grab everything, it is another to run it into the ground.
if the general thinks he can go up against the external non chinese banks that have invested in thailand, he better get a defense pact with china signed soon. or hold kabuki theater elections soon. or the CIA will start arming the north.

fun to watch on TV from the beach in Cambodia. i wonder what the import duties are if i take my motorcycle there?

but no worries, because we know what happens to even the most peaceful of people when you turn facebook off. the communist chinese government have it easy. their people have not been truly free. yet.
good luck taking LINE away from the Thai people.

and this will really boost real estate prices.... HAHAHAHAHA.

[PeteC]

Thumbs down for proposed single Internet gateway

"THAI online businesses, Internet service providers and netizens have joined forces to oppose the government's single Internet gateway plan...."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busines ... 69670.html

[buksida]

Firewall is a huge mistake
The country learned last week the government is building a "great firewall of Thailand" to try to better control what citizens see on the internet. It is unfortunate that building this firewall is essentially a secret project. As designed, the project appears as if it will do much harm but little to achieve the security desired. The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT Ministry) and the Prime Minister's Office should solicit the public's help before implementing it. Otherwise, there is real risk it will turn into a cyberspace disaster.

The very existence of the firewall project was only revealed in the apparently careless release of a summary of the Sept 1 cabinet meeting. Even at that, the summary was put in an obscure part of a government website. It was not mentioned at all in official press releases, government briefings or even among the extensive documents at the prime minister's website, Thaigov.go.th. When the ICT minister finally addressed the subject last week, he was misleading.

According to the new ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana, it is not a plan to build a firewall. He conceded a chief point of the project. That is, the government is gathering all resources to filter all internet traffic through a single gateway, leading into and out of Thailand. He claimed the only reason for the project is to lower the business costs of internet providers, a specious belief at best since many companies already operate and sell gateway services.

But according to the accidental cabinet summary dated Sept 4, the return to the 1990s system of a single internet gateway is all about security. The development order, signed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, says the "single gateway [is] to serve as a tool to control access to inappropriate sites, and the influx of information from abroad". There is no mention of lowering prices, helping consumers or giving aid to internet providers. "Relevant authorities will expedite the establishment of the single gateway," it says. The order contains less than 100 words.

There is, in fact, no advantage to this proposal for the public. The single benefit is to the government and security agencies. They will be able to secretly wiretap, filter, censor and monitor everything that is sent and received by every internet user. This is, indeed, why even the earliest reports of the project called it "the great firewall of Thailand", after the infamous one in China.

Against this unique and new government reward, however, are numerous disadvantages, obvious and hidden. First is the decision to return monopoly power to CAT Telecom, allowing it to operate all internet connections. This company was an unreliable internet facilitator as a state enterprise. There is no reason to believe it can now maintain the level of connectivity Thailand enjoys, let alone give the wider, faster service that will be needed for 4G data services.

The scheme effectively kills Dr Uttama's plans to make Thailand a hub of digital efficiency, since no serious company will trust its data to government-run and state-monitored communications. No one will appreciate the slower and less efficient connections that must result from the monitoring of internet traffic. Censorship and the laws necessary to enforce it will drive away serious information providers.

There are internet issues such as websites opposing the current institutions. But the "temporary" military regime is wading secretly into future freedoms and the ability to communicate, study and simply do business in the internet age. Having tried to slip this scheme past the public, it would be best now to shelve the issue for an elected government to consider.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... ge-mistake

[StevePIraq]

The premise is the single gate way is for security when everyone knows it is to control dissent and questioning those in power. This is the age old way in Thailand, you are not to question those with greater authority than you, exactly the same in families and schools where students are not encouraged to question only to copy what is on the blackboard and take it as fact.

I recently signed up for Thai language classes and as would be expected a few foreigners asked questions, the teacher got quite pissed saying "why you Farang always ask WHY, it just is so accept it".

[JamesWest]

some speculation on other forums that they maybe testing the system as access to this forum and the big evil forum was dead slow. i was having problems with Pattaya Addicts .com!

could you imagine if you owned a website that was making big bucks like TV and they banned it because of all the negative comments on all the news articles? hahahaha.

owning a website is like owning a bar now. "more baht or we make you slow!"
"close at midnight." "music license" "thought license"

yeah, i want to invest here. hahahaha. where do i sign up? hahahaha...

i first came to thailand wanting to open a office in bangkok. all internet based. that was before i realized the whole country is kabuki theater. could you imagine what i would have to be saying right now to my bussiness partners? hahahaha...

"we can spend more time in cowboy waiting for the files to download." hahahaha.

here are some government approved copy and paste comments we can all use now:

"i love Thailand. everything is perfect."
"WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
"condos values only go up."
"phase one is all sold out"

[PeteC]

Govt internet gateway plan sparks fury

"Activists campaigning for internet freedom have slammed the government's recent move to develop a single internet gateway to expand state control over online media....."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/new ... parks-fury

[Spitfire]

A single gateway won't work and there will be lots of dissent....not to mention lag, which already seems to be happening when you visit foreign websites now. I reckon it's all underway already.

VPNs will buy you some time but it won't be long before they [the government] figure out how to monitor that too (if they haven't already) as it seems from reports they are already trying to counter it [VPNs] with their best computer engineers according to some reports.

A conclusion the local government [and other countries too around here] have failed to realise is that all these social/political et al problems are simply a result of an unequal and discriminatory society in a technological age where everyone has access (for now at least) to any info they want and are increasingly unwilling to put up with BS they are fed as they want a better life and have found a way to voice their opinions. If they [governments] made their societies fairer and more equal then people wouldn't be so annoyed and demanding. There would also be less crime and a bigger middle class that would pay more tax to fund stuff. Trying to turn the clock back and not embrace the present realities will only cause resentment and fan the fires of confrontation as people won't put up with it in the end.

However, the "Amart" here just can't let go and join the 20th century.......not realising that to pacify the majority, and get what they want, you simply have to toss them (everyone else) a few idealistic bones and swallow a couple of things regarding change.......which results in the continued perpetuity of what they ultimately want (which is control and money). Unfortunately for everyone, they are unwilling to toss anyone a bone as they are so.....well....you know.

I'm surprised so few have noted that all these problems are nothing more than a symptom of an unfair and discriminatory society....simple as that.

[jumusman]

some speculation on other forums that they maybe testing the system as access to this forum and the big evil forum was dead slow. i was having problems with Pattaya Addicts .com!

could you imagine if you owned a website that was making big bucks like TV and they banned it because of all the negative comments on all the news articles? hahahaha.

owning a website is like owning a bar now. "more baht or we make you slow!"
"close at midnight." "music license" "thought license"

yeah, i want to invest here. hahahaha. where do i sign up? hahahaha...

i first came to thailand wanting to open a office in bangkok. all internet based. that was before i realized the whole country is kabuki theater. could you imagine what i would have to be saying right now to my bussiness partners? hahahaha...

"we can spend more time in cowboy waiting for the files to download." hahahaha.

here are some government approved copy and paste comments we can all use now:

"i love Thailand. everything is perfect."
"WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
"condos values only go up."
"phase one is all sold out"

I like those! My favorite lately is "Nothing is wrong with tourism, since the bombing its only down 3%"... A classic...

[PeteC]

Here comes the kee kwai!

'Single gateway' only for regulatory oversight: Prajin

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politic ... 69841.html