CYBER CRIME
Internet data law goes into force Aug 23
KING-OUA LAOHONG
Bangkok Post 13. August 2008
From Aug 23, private firms, organisations and government agencies will be required to store all internet traffic data for 90 days so it is available as digital evidence for police. Pol Col Yannapol Youngyuen, commander of the Bureau of Technology and Cyber Crime at the Department of Special Investigation, said the IT Ministry order has no exceptions and will include banks, hotels, schools and internet cafes.
He said digital evidence gathered from computers is useful in tracking those engaged in cyber crime.
Cyber offences, ranging from email forwarding of pornographic pictures to posting libellous messages on forums, are on the rise, Pol Col Yannapol said, but police agencies find it hard to gather the evidence to bring the perpetrators to justice.
He said internet cafes will also be required to collect information to identify computer users, such as ID cards, time of logging in and sites visited. Shops that fail to heed the rules will face fines up to 500,000 baht, he said.
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I have checked the date. It is not the 1st of April. I also checked which country I am in by looking out the window. I am not in North Korea. I have heard about similar rules in Vietnam, but Vietnam is a communist dictatorship. Thailand is… umm… a democracy.
I have already been in Internet cafe raids where the police come in to see if anything immoral goes on in the bathroom, and to see if anyone under 18 is playing Audition after 10 pm.
This new law opens the possibility of raids to check ID cards for Thais and passports for foreigners, and to see if everything you do online is logged.
Will the police actually do that? They just might. They love raids. And the Internet cafes are cash cows which the police take an interest in. If you know what I mean.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I’m sorry to say that Thailand, the Land of Smiles must be looking less & less attractive to tourists as the months pass.
I really don’t want to holiday in a police state. I feel sorry for the Thai people who rely on tourism for their livliehood.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Soon Thailand will totally choke the goose that laid the golden egg. It has been a long slow process that most who have only arrived during the last decade have not been able to see. The Thais have been the most clever in implementing a police state in Asia by virtue of the fact that they have done it by stealth and with the support of large numbers of people, including many among the farang gays who are always calling for a “cleaning up”.
I still predict that Thailand will soon become a more ghastly place to reside than even the Philippines or Indonesia.
This where social engineering and “the improving of mankind” finally leads which in reality is fascism brought up to date in the 21st century.
I’ve had my fun and now sit back and let fate take its toll. For those under 60, it’s “let the devil take the hindquarter”.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Didn’t the US government did something like this too? Similar, but in US, emails could be checked by the government, and people are losing their privacy and freedom due to this. But in the US case, it is anti-terrorism reasons.
In Thailand case…It might be too naive to believe that these policemen actually cared about these cyber crimes.
What they are hiding beneath these acts is “how much money would I get from bribes today?”
August 25th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
The sad part, Aussieal, is that the Thai are being pressured by Oz and Uncle Sam to conform to their standards.
Don’t kid yourself that Oz is a free land. Try getting yourself a phone card or a VoIP phone line. See how much Big Brother is intruding.
Same applies to the World’s Sheriff … I haven’t been there in a decade because of their off-putting way of ignoring personal privacy.
We all understand that countries have their own way of doing things. That’s what makes travel fun. But for the Thai to allow external influences to change the Thai way of life, that is sad,sad,sad.
I think I want to go and cry.
(
August 25th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
The freedom is getting smaller here and there, not only in Thailand. When visiting Italy this summer I was forced to identify myself when using computers in internet cafés….. Sad.
August 25th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
How do hell do you know about Audition, Silom? Do you play?
August 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Audition is a dance game popular with girls. When I see a boy play it I put him on my quite-possibly-gay list.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
ROFL… I wanna hear about these mental lists you have Silom
August 25th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Well, I have been to five (5) Internet cafes in two provinces (Udon Thani and Bangkok) since two days ago, and NOWHERE was I asked to provide ID. However, police might discover this law as a nice vehicle to earn some extra cash soon, and then the owners of the Internet cafes will have to take action… So far, they don’t seem to know and/or care. Not uncommon with new laws in Thailand, though.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
It seems that this new law could significantly impact anyone traveling to Thailand with his laptop. The requirement to provide ID at Internet cafes is, well, an annoyance. But - HOLY GIGABYTE, BATMAN! - the requirement for HOTELS to store 90 days of all Internet traffic is astounding. And a hotel will be less inclined to ignor this new law than some mom-and-pop Internet cafe in Udon. Compliance with this law might be so onerous that many (most?) hotels stop offering Internet to guests, just to avoid the hassle.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I am not sure if those who wrote this law had heard of wirless Internet access in hotels.
Expect the law to be implemented in the usual half-arsed way. I can’t predict how they will do it as their logic always comes as a surprise.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I’ve had my fun and now sit back and let fate take its toll. For those under 60, it’s “let the devil take the hindquarter”.
I think that should be ‘devil take the hindmost’. I’ve always found hindquarters - especially thos attached to Thai males in their 20s - to be quite attractive
August 26th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Perhaps one day…..George Orwell’s 1984 could be applied to Thailand……………
I could see Thailand aiming to that doomed BIG BROTHER future…..and hope authorities don’t complain why tourists won’t visit Thailand anymore.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Dear yraen…I am all too familiar with the big brother syndrome in Australia and the UK. It is a sad reflection on society that we need these checks, and yes, we do need them!
The advent of international terrorism and drug cartels have ensured that we enjoy these conditions in most countries now.
However, I have never had to slip a Aussie/Uk policeman a couple of thousand baht to go away.
I really wonder who benefits the most from many laws in Thailand.
August 27th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Hmm when i was in vietnam at the start of the year, didint get asked for my passport once in a net cafe