Thailand involves a scope of expression far
broader than the actions of the king himself, has
begun to form the basis for the blocking and
removal of Web sites. 19
In July 2003 Thailand became the first country to impose a curfew on online gaming.
20
In
March 2006 a regulation enforced by the Culture
Ministry forbade persons under eighteen years of
age from entering Internet cafés between the
hours of 10pm and 2pm. 21
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was brought into operation in late
2004 as an independent telecom regulator and
given the exclusive authority to grant licenses for
telecom or IT services. 22 Previously, an ISP could
obtain a concession contract only by giving a
free equity stake of about 35 percent to CAT
Telecom (formerly the Communications Authority
of Thailand) in exchange for a share of the profits
from the networks these companies built and
paid for. 23 In March 2005 the NTC announced
that it would grant free licenses once permanent
guidelines were in place. 24
In August 2003, Thaksin’s government
ordered ISPs to begin blocking a list of Web sites
that were compiled by CAT and hosted on its
server. 25 The MICT’s Cyber Inspector team was
also charged with rooting out gambling and sex
sites. 26 In late 2005 the government announced
its plans to block over 800,000 pornographic and
violent Web sites; ISPs would be ordered to take
down the sites, and those that did not follow the
order would have their licenses revoked. 27 The
prime minister also formed a nine-member
Internet inspection committee, which met online
each morning to compile a list of sites for ISPs to
block. 28 Although citizens were encouraged to
submit sites for blocking through various
forums, 29 there has been a marked lack of transparency in the government’s decision-making
process and execution of filtering. As a new constitution is slated for 2007, the legal authority for
Internet filtering continues to be contested.
In the first days of martial law after the coup,
military leaders issued orders intended to restore
“normalcy,” demanding all political parties to
stop their activities, banning new political parties,
and requiring the cooperation of news media to
discourage the reporting of public opinion. 30 The
MICT followed suit, enforcing a temporary ban on
political text-messaging and phone-ins, where
ISPs and authors would be held responsible for
offensive messages. 31
Not yet enacted at the time of the coup, a
revised law laying out the terms and penalties of
computer crimes was approved in principle by
the newly installed National Legislative Assembly
on November 15, 2006. Sponsored by the MICT
and the interim military government, this bill in its
current form would punish the forwarding of a
pornographic e-mail with up to three years
imprisonment and the posting of online activity
posing a threat to “national security” as an
offense under the national security law. 32
ONI testing results
The stated goal of blocking 800,000 pornographic and violent Web sites as a result of Thaksin’s
policy is only one of many reported figures of the
number of blocked sites in Thailand. For example, in 2004 there were reportedly 1,247 blocked
URLs, most of which were pornographic sites,
along with a few sites devoted to online gaming
and one site belonging to a separatist movement. 33 This proportion remained relatively intact
in other accounts. Before it took down its public
reports, the Police Bureau on High Tech Crime
claimed to have blocked all of the over 34,000
“illicit” Web sites reported since April 2002, with
Thai and foreign pornography sites at about 56
percent of the total, sites that sell sex equipment
12 percent, and sites with content posing a
“threat to national security” at 11 percent. 34 From
2002 to 2005 the MICT also blocked over 2,000
sites, reportedly mostly pornography sites. 35 In
addition, multiple alleged block lists containing a
majority of pornography sites were “leaked.” It
392
Country Summaries
broader than the actions of the king himself, has
begun to form the basis for the blocking and
removal of Web sites. 19
In July 2003 Thailand became the first country to impose a curfew on online gaming.
20
In
March 2006 a regulation enforced by the Culture
Ministry forbade persons under eighteen years of
age from entering Internet cafés between the
hours of 10pm and 2pm. 21
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was brought into operation in late
2004 as an independent telecom regulator and
given the exclusive authority to grant licenses for
telecom or IT services. 22 Previously, an ISP could
obtain a concession contract only by giving a
free equity stake of about 35 percent to CAT
Telecom (formerly the Communications Authority
of Thailand) in exchange for a share of the profits
from the networks these companies built and
paid for. 23 In March 2005 the NTC announced
that it would grant free licenses once permanent
guidelines were in place. 24
In August 2003, Thaksin’s government
ordered ISPs to begin blocking a list of Web sites
that were compiled by CAT and hosted on its
server. 25 The MICT’s Cyber Inspector team was
also charged with rooting out gambling and sex
sites. 26 In late 2005 the government announced
its plans to block over 800,000 pornographic and
violent Web sites; ISPs would be ordered to take
down the sites, and those that did not follow the
order would have their licenses revoked. 27 The
prime minister also formed a nine-member
Internet inspection committee, which met online
each morning to compile a list of sites for ISPs to
block. 28 Although citizens were encouraged to
submit sites for blocking through various
forums, 29 there has been a marked lack of transparency in the government’s decision-making
process and execution of filtering. As a new constitution is slated for 2007, the legal authority for
Internet filtering continues to be contested.
In the first days of martial law after the coup,
military leaders issued orders intended to restore
“normalcy,” demanding all political parties to
stop their activities, banning new political parties,
and requiring the cooperation of news media to
discourage the reporting of public opinion. 30 The
MICT followed suit, enforcing a temporary ban on
political text-messaging and phone-ins, where
ISPs and authors would be held responsible for
offensive messages. 31
Not yet enacted at the time of the coup, a
revised law laying out the terms and penalties of
computer crimes was approved in principle by
the newly installed National Legislative Assembly
on November 15, 2006. Sponsored by the MICT
and the interim military government, this bill in its
current form would punish the forwarding of a
pornographic e-mail with up to three years
imprisonment and the posting of online activity
posing a threat to “national security” as an
offense under the national security law. 32
ONI testing results
The stated goal of blocking 800,000 pornographic and violent Web sites as a result of Thaksin’s
policy is only one of many reported figures of the
number of blocked sites in Thailand. For example, in 2004 there were reportedly 1,247 blocked
URLs, most of which were pornographic sites,
along with a few sites devoted to online gaming
and one site belonging to a separatist movement. 33 This proportion remained relatively intact
in other accounts. Before it took down its public
reports, the Police Bureau on High Tech Crime
claimed to have blocked all of the over 34,000
“illicit” Web sites reported since April 2002, with
Thai and foreign pornography sites at about 56
percent of the total, sites that sell sex equipment
12 percent, and sites with content posing a
“threat to national security” at 11 percent. 34 From
2002 to 2005 the MICT also blocked over 2,000
sites, reportedly mostly pornography sites. 35 In
addition, multiple alleged block lists containing a
majority of pornography sites were “leaked.” It
392
Country Summaries