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Internet Thailand Bans Access to 2,000 Web Sites
Michael Barkoviak - January 6, 2009 6:00 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 29 comment(s) - last by stuberto.. on Jan 8 at 5:40 PM
Government officials in Thailand confirm the government banned numerous web sites in 2008

A government official in Bangkok confirmed the Thai government has banned access to more than 2,300 web sites throughout 2008, citing multiple reasons why internet users can't view them.

Most of the web sites banned allegedly offend the Thai monarchy, with web sites hosting pornographic content and national security threats also recently banned.  Most of the banned web sites -- around 90 percent -- were registered overseas, and weren't based in Thailand.

Insulting the monarchy in Thailand, described as "lese majeste," has a prison sentence up to 15 years according to Thai officials.  The penalty is especially important now as the country undergoes political tensions as Thais supporting ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra continue to seek general elections in the nation.

The list of banned web sites in Thailand has been leaked online, with content including YouTube videos, cartoons, blogs and articles published online.

Several nations are notorious for blocking Internet access to certain web sites, which usually involve politics or defamation of a country's president or leader.  The Communist-led Chinese government is best known for blocking access to web sites deemed inappropriate for citizens.

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dailytech banned?
By Dreifort on 1/6/2009 1:30:16 PM , Rating: 2
Wonder if dailytech is banned? I guess we could get PLAYSTATIONTHREE to post some hate comment about their gov't and it would get this website banned in Thailand...

wait, he already did didn't he? guess that answers my own question.




RE: dailytech banned?
By Dark Legion on 1/6/2009 2:13:29 PM , Rating: 2
Even though I'm sure you were joking, it is not. The Thai gov't couldn't care less about the dumba$$ that is PLAYSTATIONTHREE, especially when we don't listen to him anyway.


RE: dailytech banned?
By Dreifort on 1/6/2009 2:24:59 PM , Rating: 2
how do they target their banned sites then if not by keywords?


RE: dailytech banned?
By Dark Legion on 1/6/2009 3:06:48 PM , Rating: 2
No idea, but however they did it they didn't do a very good job. For example, they left a good torrent site that I use untouched, which has illegal torrents like GTA IV (if you remember there was a DT article about it being banned here a few months ago) and pr0n. My guess would be that they filtered by keywords, than chose a few of the more radical websites and blocked them.


RE: dailytech banned?
By Lifted on 1/6/2009 4:15:34 PM , Rating: 2
Why would they bother with torrents? I bought GTA IV here in bkk a month ago from the only store that sells originals.

Believe it or not, there are not THAT many sites saying derogatory things about the Thai king, so it really isn't all that hard to do.


RE: dailytech banned?
By Dark Legion on 1/7/2009 9:50:35 PM , Rating: 2
Well considering they don't bother with much else that is illegal, good point. I don't know about down in BKK but up here in CM stores gotta give bribes to keep GTA IV on the shelves (no real ones as far as I saw either, unfortunately).

quote:
Believe it or not, there are not THAT many sites saying derogatory things about the Thai king, so it really isn't all that hard to do.


True, but do you honestly think that is the real reason they did this?


Just makes me laugh
By HighWing on 1/6/2009 12:54:04 PM , Rating: 2
So I'm guessing the thought process goes something like this....

These websites are bad, let's block them and ignore/forget they exist.

Ignorance is bliss!!

This, like with china, just makes me laugh. Because in the grand scheme of things, actions like this eventually cause more harm then the good they think they are doing. It's pretty much a fact that in most cases it is better to teach/educate a person/people why something is bad then to just pretend it does not exist and beat around the bush.




RE: Just makes me laugh
By Spectator on 1/6/2009 2:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
It could also be considered/argued.

If you want to sensor us then we can do the same..

Yes it may be a "p.issing" contest. but in the end we see who is serious/stronger. would you like to see who thinks they are stronger?.

If they dont care as they are not loosing anything. then what have you lost?


RE: Just makes me laugh
By Dark Legion on 1/6/2009 2:33:34 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
... in the grand scheme of things, actions like this eventually cause more harm then the good they think they are doing.


In a lot of cases, I would say you are right. However, these are sites that 99.9% of Thais would not visit anyway. Those that do for the most part know enough to go through a proxy. In the end, this measure is pointless and only serves to make the government look good.


By MikeBurtner on 1/8/2009 10:16:23 AM , Rating: 2
I Googled the list of banned sites. While I am familiar with the usual pr0n sources (BT, ED, Anderson Cooper's AC360 blog), I'm thrilled to have such a prodigious list of perversion. And if the Thais think it's dirty, it's gotta be feeelthy!




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