374
Thailand
agencies ranging from ministry level to department level. The main objective of this
network is to create an e-government, which will pave the way for a government
Internet gateway solely for state agencies.
18
The top three most popular Web sites are sanook.com, kapook.com, and mthai.
com, all of which are Web portals.
19 Thai users ’ primary purposes for accessing the
Internet are to seek news and information (29.7 percent), to send e-mails (21.9
percent), and to engage in e-learning (8 percent).
20 The number of users accessing
social networking Web sites has steadily increased. Within a span of nine months in
2010, the number of Facebook users in Thailand more than doubled from 2 million
in January to more than 5 million in September.
21 The sharp increase in use and growth
of awareness about Facebook can be attributed to the political crisis in March to May
2010. The extensive media censorship enforced under emergency decree triggered
political discourse to move to the highly interactive and participatory platform. Given
Facebook ’ s recent announcement of 500 million active users worldwide,
22 this means
that Thailand now accounts for more than 1 percent of the total active Facebook
population worldwide.
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
The MICT is responsible for ICT policy and oversight across the country. The second
ICT master plan (2009 – 2013) aims to provide countrywide broadband, the so-called
National Broadband Policy.
23 This is a part of the ICT Scheme 2020, which was drafted
as a framework to develop the national ICT infrastructure. One of the main objectives
of the master plan is to increase broadband Internet access to 80 percent of the population by 2015.
24
The NTC is the country ’ s telecommunications regulatory authority. Apart from its
main responsibility in managing radio and telecommunication frequencies, the NTC
also has the authority to grant licenses for Internet service, international Internet
gateways, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.
An Internet fi ltering regime began in Thailand in 2002 with the establishment of
a fi ltering unit within the MICT called the Cyber Inspector. The Cyber Inspector
focused its fi ltering activity on issues such as pornography, negative comments about
the monarchy, gambling, terrorism, and separatist movements.
25 However, its existence and role were widely questioned by the public because of a lack of legal grounds
for fi ltering. The legalization of Internet fi ltering began in 2007 with the enactment
of the controversial Computer Crime Act. This law was the fi rst to be passed during
the interim legislature appointed by the military junta. Apart from carrying broadbased provisions on content regulation, a tradition quite unusual for cybercrime law,
this relatively new law also allows competent offi cials (who are appointed by the
minister of ICT) to apply for court orders to seize computer equipment and to block
Thailand
agencies ranging from ministry level to department level. The main objective of this
network is to create an e-government, which will pave the way for a government
Internet gateway solely for state agencies.
18
The top three most popular Web sites are sanook.com, kapook.com, and mthai.
com, all of which are Web portals.
19 Thai users ’ primary purposes for accessing the
Internet are to seek news and information (29.7 percent), to send e-mails (21.9
percent), and to engage in e-learning (8 percent).
20 The number of users accessing
social networking Web sites has steadily increased. Within a span of nine months in
2010, the number of Facebook users in Thailand more than doubled from 2 million
in January to more than 5 million in September.
21 The sharp increase in use and growth
of awareness about Facebook can be attributed to the political crisis in March to May
2010. The extensive media censorship enforced under emergency decree triggered
political discourse to move to the highly interactive and participatory platform. Given
Facebook ’ s recent announcement of 500 million active users worldwide,
22 this means
that Thailand now accounts for more than 1 percent of the total active Facebook
population worldwide.
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
The MICT is responsible for ICT policy and oversight across the country. The second
ICT master plan (2009 – 2013) aims to provide countrywide broadband, the so-called
National Broadband Policy.
23 This is a part of the ICT Scheme 2020, which was drafted
as a framework to develop the national ICT infrastructure. One of the main objectives
of the master plan is to increase broadband Internet access to 80 percent of the population by 2015.
24
The NTC is the country ’ s telecommunications regulatory authority. Apart from its
main responsibility in managing radio and telecommunication frequencies, the NTC
also has the authority to grant licenses for Internet service, international Internet
gateways, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.
An Internet fi ltering regime began in Thailand in 2002 with the establishment of
a fi ltering unit within the MICT called the Cyber Inspector. The Cyber Inspector
focused its fi ltering activity on issues such as pornography, negative comments about
the monarchy, gambling, terrorism, and separatist movements.
25 However, its existence and role were widely questioned by the public because of a lack of legal grounds
for fi ltering. The legalization of Internet fi ltering began in 2007 with the enactment
of the controversial Computer Crime Act. This law was the fi rst to be passed during
the interim legislature appointed by the military junta. Apart from carrying broadbased provisions on content regulation, a tradition quite unusual for cybercrime law,
this relatively new law also allows competent offi cials (who are appointed by the
minister of ICT) to apply for court orders to seize computer equipment and to block