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15th June |
Censorship Rally... |
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Thai minister tries to ban opposition TV
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From the Bangkok Post
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Thailand's
Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung has kicked off a new censorship row
with an order to cable-TV broadcasters to block the opposition's ASTV
station. He has now denied that he intends to try to close the satellite
and Internet based TV station.
ASTV, owned and operated by People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)
founder Sondhi Limthongkul, is currently broadcasting saturation
coverage of the PAD's anti-government rallies in central Bangkok.
Pol Capt Chalerm told provincial governors to order all cable-TV
operators in the provinces to stop carrying the ASTV signal, and
threatened to jail any operator who defied him.
He claimed he ordered the ban because PAD members and supporters called
for the overthrow of the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej
and used "rude words".
However, it is far from clear that the minister has any authority to
halt or otherwise control broadcasts by satellite TV.
Several cable TV operators in provinces immediately suspended
broadcasting the ASTV coverage of the PAD rallies following his threat
of taking legal action.
The PAD decided late Friday to file a complaint with the Administrative
Court against Chalerm becase of his issuing the order.
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13th June |
Nicked for NisitGirl... |
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Webmaster arrested for student girl website
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See
full article
from
FACT Thai
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Police
have arrested a webmaster for posting pornographic photos for trade and
distribution on his website, one of 200-300 sites containing sexually
explicit content based in Thailand.
Boonyarit Arunsap the webmaster of www.nisitgirl.com, was apprehended in
the CAT Telecom building on Charoen Krung road in Bang Rak district.
Police from the Children, Juveniles and Women division and Information
and Communications Technology Ministry officials allegedly found him
using his computer to download and share lewd content via Bit Torrent, a
file-sharing programme.
Police charged him with allowing sexually obscene content into a
computer system under his supervision for public access with the purpose
of trading or sharing pornographic photos.
The offence under the Computer Crime Act is punishable by up to five
years in jail and a 100,000 baht fine.
Police seized seven computers from his office and 14 more from an office
on the 14th floor for examination.
According to police, Boonyarit said his website was intended for the
public to exchange their views. But at least 10 porn websites had used
his site to post sexually-explicit photos, messages or links to other
obscene sites, police said.
He and other webmasters were aware of the problem and tried to erase the
obscene content, but they could not keep up as more than 10,000 porn
messages popped up each day.
Police said he agreed to improve the content-screening system and inform
police of the offensive sites.
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12th June |
Cyber Law and the Police State... |
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Small Thai web hosts under threat over monitoring requirements
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From the Bangkok Post
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A
web developer has spoken of how someone he knew spent a night in jail: A
couple had an argument and the boyfriend proceeded to post compromising
pictures of his girlfriend to a web site. The girlfriend went to the
police and it was the webmaster who spent the night in jail, pending
bail, for not being able to provide the logs and names necessary under
the new Thai law.
Indeed, the only thing the law has accomplished is to make it easy for
people to attack their enemies by posting dubious content on web sites
in order to get the hosting company in trouble.
Even the big operators are not immune. Pantip.com requires an ID card
number to be registered before posting pictures, but one web developer
said that someone had used his ID card number in an online game, a
classic case of identity theft. Without a way to check someone's
identity, an ID card number is useless. But if the number could be
checked easily, the opportunities to abuse the system are immense. If
the Ministry of Interior opens up its database for webmasters to check
ID numbers, then what is there to stop someone from mining the
information.
Another hosting company was effectively shut down when police raided it
and seized its servers because one of its clients was selling
counterfeit goods. All the other clients suffered too, but one wonders
how police would treat a grid or a virtual machine running in a cloud of
computers. Chances are they would probably seize it first and then come
back asking how to turn it on later.
When the law first came into effect, the head of Thailand's largest
hosting company, ISSP, said that the law was a death sentence for small
Thai hosts and that it would only drive the Internet economy overseas.
In a draconian move, if the host is overseas, the onus of supplying a
name to match an action then falls on the ISP.
So, what does the future hold for web development in Thailand?
The current interpretation of the cybercrime law puts far too much
emphasis on the medium; it punishes the messenger and ignores the
message. It is convenient for law enforcement. It is perfect for a
police state.
It makes for a situation where every hosting company and every ISP is
operating in a grey area and the government of the day can pick and
choose who to persecute, sorry, prosecute, at will. Since every forum is
probably unable to prove compliance, governments can selectively turn a
blind eye to pro-government sites and shut down those that are critical
of its policies.
Only those who use it to speak of things that the state disapproves of
ever need fear prosecution.
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7th June |
Sniffing Around... |
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Is Thailand listening in to the Internet
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From the Bangkok Post
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Thailand's
Internet is stuttering with a series of unexplained outages and
slowdowns that suggest that the government is running a far-reaching
program to monitor its citizens' online activities, one similar to the
US Carnivore e-mail policeware program.
This can be seen in the way YouTube is now all but unusable for TOT
subscribers, and how sending large e-mail messages through a foreign
server on port 25 often fails, while encrypted, non-standard ports or
VPN access over the same network works fine.
A former security-consultant-turned-businessman in Thailand, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said that the entire situation was seriously
damaging business confidence and may be on the verge of being illegal,
especially for foreign businesses operating in Thailand.
In many industries, a user has a duty to alert his company or his
authorities if he knows that data has been compromised. But what if the
leak is to a foreign government? That said, in most countries, national
security laws override privacy laws.
He first noted earlier this year that e-mail sending slows down as the
work day progresses and fails almost entirely around lunchtime. His
company uses a corporate e-mail server located overseas. Analysis of the
traffic suggest that the authorities are intercepting anything on
standard SMTP port 25, regardless of the destination IP address. He said
he has the IP numbers he suspects to be the sniffing machines as the
latency incurred there is far too long to be a regular switch.
To circumvent this monitoring, users can simply use a VPN to access
their corporate network overseas, use SSL encrypted e-mail ports or even
encrypt on an end-to-end fashion. Gmail remains secure when accessed via
HTTPS.
That said, the former security consultant said that there was a
legitimate need for governments to monitor e-mail for national security
but that the way the Thai government had done it had failed miserably.
Rather it should have been done professionally and be totally invisible
without the terrorists or the public knowing.
Rather than announce to the world that they were intercepting and
monitoring e-mail and thus making everyone use encryption, it would have
been much better if the government had kept quiet and had done traffic
pattern analysis on individuals to learn more about their network, he
said.
For instance, if one person was using encryption all the time, the
government should keep a close eye on him and who he contacts, but by
botching up this project, it means that everyone has to use encryption
and VPN and thus the government has lost its ability to gather
information and protect the people.
Another question was who had access to the information being gathered.
In the past, the US government launched Echelon and Carnivore, projects
aimed at wiretapping the Internet in the name of security. But at least
they had clear objectives and responsibilities, unlike the clandestine
Thai system that appeared to be in place, he noted.
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6th June |
Waiting for Ages... |
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Thailand film classification delayed
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From the Bangkok Post
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The
long wait for Thailand's first film rating system will continue for at
least another few months.
The ministerial regulations on audience age restrictions have not yet
been finalised. The rating system had been due to start in June, as
stipulated in the Film Act passed by the National Legislative Assembly
in December.
The sub-committee has finished drafting the regulations, but we will
have to submit it to the cabinet before they become effective, said
Somchai Seanglai, the deputy permanent secretary for culture.
Under the Film Act, the Culture Ministry will replace the police as the
body that oversees theatre screening of movies.
The law specifies six ratings: G (fit for all age groups); 13-plus;
15-plus; 18-plus; 20-plus; and a special "P" rating for films that
deserve to be promoted to all audiences. The authority will retain power
to cut or ban films.
The rating committee will comprise government officials, academics and
film industry representatives.
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25th May |
Image and Blocking... |
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Thailand ponders how best to block websites accused of lese majeste
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Based on an article from the Bangkok Post
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Twenty
nine "inappropriate" websites are being investigated for content deemed to
be critical of or offensive to the Thai monarchy.
A police source at the High-Tech Crime Centre said a list of inappropriate
websites, compiled about a month ago, has been handed over to the Special
Branch Police.
The SBP is working with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in
tracking down operators or owners of those websites, the source said.
Note that Lese Majeste accusations are sometimes more
to do with settling personal scores rather than strident attacks on the
monarchy.
The newspapers published the list of sites under
investigation. Having compiled the list, the thorny issue of how to block
them seems to be causing problems. The recent law suggests that blocking
should be via court orders but these have not been obtained. So it seems
that the blocking has been delegated to ISPs with assurances that they will
not be prosecuted.
See
full article from
Prachatai
Information and Communications Technology Minister Man Pattanothai said that
so far internet service providers had not dared to block websites found to
have lèse majesté content for fear of breaching the National
Telecommunications Commission law that forbids blocking information flows,
with a maximum penalty of licence revocation.
After consulting with the National Telecommunications Commission, the ICT
Ministry has assured all ISPs that they will not be subject to the penalty
if they block the truly offensive websites, said the Minister.
The National Telecommunications Commission has confirmed with the
ministry that blocking websites offensive to the royal family can be carried
out without breaching the law. Therefore, the ICT Ministry can guarantee all
ISPs that their licenses will not be revoked, said the Minister.
ICT Minister said that there had been an order from ‘high above’ not to
block the websites and to allow the free flow of information, on the grounds
that foreigners do not understand the blocking and may form negative
perceptions.
See
full article from Reporters without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is alarmed about the comments made by Man
Pattanotai, the Thai minister of information and communication technology (ICT),
in a radio interview on 14 May. He said prosecuting websites because of
their content would cause a “big scandal” and that it was better to just
“suppress the news” by closing them down or blocking access.
By voicing a preference for radical censorship measures, the minister is
in complete contradiction with the Computer Crime Act, which has been in
force since the summer of 2007 and which requires the authorities to bring a
complaint against a website before requesting its closure, Reporters
Without Borders said: We condemn the reinforcement of online controls,
which includes the creation of a toll-free number for people to call to
denounce any website criticising the monarchy.
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18th May |
Censorship Orders... |
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Websites still being blocked in Thailand
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See
full article
from Global Voices
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Censorship
in Thailand has always been accomplished by government in secret. The
number of websites blocked, its blocklists and the methods it uses to
block have never been disclosed to the Thai public..
However, the new cybercrime law required that the government seek a
court order before blocking. However, since passage of the law, Web
censorship has become far murkier, with Thailand’s 100 ISPs blocking
blocking independently in order to avoid being criminalised under the
law for illegal content transiting their servers. And no court orders
have been requested.
Now ISPs are required to keep all Internet traffic logs for 90 days. Two
cyber-dissidents have already been arrested under the new law tracked by
their IP addresses for comments they made on Thailand’s monarchy to
public Web discussion boards.
Make no mistake: Internet censorship is illegal in Thailand under at
least 11 articles of the 1997 Constitution, by decree of the lawmakers’
Council of State and by order of the Administrative Court. Has this
stopped the censors? Didn’t even slow them now.
Now Thailand’s newly-elected government and its new ICT Minister are
using lèse majesté as its ongoing excuse to block freedom of opinion and
expression by Thais on issues vital to our society.
The past few weeks have seen YouTube blocked again as well as Prachatai,
Thailand’s foremost independent news portal and Same Sky, a journal of
social criticism. Both sites have popular public Web discussion boards.
In the past, both sites have been warned by MICT to self-censor
“sensitive” public comments.
However, both Prachatai and Same Sky were closed this week without court
order by the ICT Minister who was interviewed on May 14 on the Khao Den
Praden Ron radio news programme. His comments reveal that, not only was
he completely aware he was acting above the law, but that suggestion for
the censorship came from those higher up in Thai government.
Quoting the Minister: [Pursuing legal action] will…become a big
scandal. We’d better suppress the news. Someone higher than me is of
this opinion. This means, of course, that the rose-apple is rotten
to its core and that Thai bureaucrats engage in criminal acts with
impunity.
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1st May |
Still Discontent about
YouTube Content... |
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Thailand admits it cannot take legal action against YouTube
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From the Bangkok Post
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Thailand's
Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has conceded it can do nothing
about some of the content of the YouTube website considered as lese majeste
and against the Thai monarchy, apart from seeking cooperation from the
webmaster.
Pol Col Yarnpol Yangyuen, the chief of the DSI's office of technology cases
and examination centre, said YouTube is an international website based in
another country, so the DSI cannot take legal action against it for lese
majeste.
But the DSI has asked YouTube's webmasters to block such content on their
website and expects to soon reach agreement about the lese majeste content
on the site, said Pol Col Yarnpol.
The Surayud Chulanont government last year slapped a ban on YouTube after
clips about the royal family were posted on the site. The ban was later
lifted after YouTube operator Google agreed to install filters to bar people
in Thailand from gaining access to those clips. However, some controversial
content remains on the website.
Pol Col Yarnpol also said that the DSI would not meddle with politically
motivated websites and would maintain its neutrality. He added that the DSI
would not take action against the publication of internet content aimed at
discrediting politicians or websites considered as politically motivated.
The department does not want to become a political tool for any political
group [by interfering in politically-motivated websites],' said Pol Col
Yarnpol.
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30th April |
Police Censors... |
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Thailand passed film classification law
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From the Bangkok Post
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Thailand's
new Film Act will go into effect on June 4. And though nothing ever goes
as planned when it comes to the Culture Ministry, moviegoers should
brace for the historic introduction of the rating system, which is
likely to be accompanied by confusion and clamour.
The Film Act was actually passed last December, but the Ministry
Regulations, the practical rules that will implement various provisions
of the law, are being written by the scribes at the ministry.
When the new law is applied in June, each movie, Thai and foreign, will
be assigned one of six ratings:
- G (fit for all age groups)
- 13-plus
- 15-plus
- 18-plus
- 20-plus
- ''P'' an unusual label designed for films that deserve to be
promoted to the society because of its content. For instance, a
historical Thai movie that everyone including young children should be
encouraged to see it because of its historical and patriotic values.
What's not clear right now is how the ratings and filtering will be
enforced. As it is understood, theatre staff at the box office will
check the IDs of customers before letting them buy tickets. But since
nobody has seen the Ministry Regulations, it's not certain whether the
age classifications are simply a guideline for parents and multiplexes,
or are actual legal restrictions with punishment clauses.
It's rumoured that the ID check will be carried out only with the 18-
and 20-plus movies. But if, say, a 19-year-old wants to see Rambo 4 with
his father, will he be allowed to go in? And if not, why? Because when
he goes to an election booth, a process more detrimental to his mental
health, he doesn't have to bring his dad in there with him to tell him
which box to tick or which politician is a thief.
I feel itchy about the 20-plus rating, itchier and sadder still that the
new Film Act still has the cutting and banning provisions. Hardly any
country in the world restricts access to cinema for its 20-year-old
people, except, well, Singapore. What's very funny in the Thai law is
that the 20-plus rating will not be applied to those who have reached
their legal age of consent by marriage. So if you're a 17-year-old girl
who's already married, you can breeze into the theatre to see a 20-plus
film, supposedly because since you've already had sex, nothing else can
shock you. Just remember to carry your wedding certificate as proof.
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26th April |
Rape and Make Up... |
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Even the good guys are at it in Thai TV drama
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Even I found the episode jaw dropping. The good guy spent an entire
episode humiliating and finally raping the heroine only to find that
respect and love builds from that point.
As background, there are absolutely no sex scenes involved, a slap
and a violent shove on to a bed is all there is of the actual depiction
of rape.
Surely we have rape storylines in the West, but there is no way that
a romantic lead could ever get away it, let alone stay the hero.
From the Bangkok Post
by ML Nattakorn Devakula
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Rape
is a crime punishable with lengthy prison sentences in a court of law in
Thailand. Yet this criminal act seems to be legal and accepted in the
country's most popular night-time TV soap operas. This perpetuation of
an inhumane act must end and only the main television networks have the
power to do it.
Here the author makes a specific call to Channel 3 and Channel 7 to
terminate any future soap dramas containing plot lines that justify
rape. The script writers of our television dramas are better than this.
They can do more than recycle old storylines written in a backward time
when apparently, and unfortunately, men were seen as superior to women
and invincible to the application of the law.
I am not going to lie and tell you that I don't enjoy the verbal spat
between Teeradej Wongpuapan (Ken) and Ann Thongprasom (Ann) on screen.
The exchanges are dramatic and the scenes are excitingly heated every
Wednesday and Thursday evening on Channel 3. The lead character is the
troubled son of a rich businessman who apparently has not been brought
up properly. The father's role is especially craftily acted by veteran
actor Dilok Tongwattana. The self-obsessed son attempts to gain the
attention of his multi-time married father while trying his best, for
the major part of the series, to make his father's new wife jealous of
his increasingly intense relationship with the lead female character
played by Ann. The plot of Sawan Bieng (Heaven Unwilling)
is an old one. It is normal practice among TV drama production companies
to recycle famous though perennially used screenplays, with a bit of
adaptation.
All that is fine and these soaps draw huge ratings. The drama of
Sawan Bieng, however, in the end becomes based on a love that is
spawned by the sexual violence between the lead male and female
characters. Ken vengefully rapes Ann to get back at her sister who
happens to be his dad's new wife. Still, as time passes, Ann falls in
love with Ken. He is not prosecuted for his criminal invasion of another
person's sexual inviolateness. Worse, soon afterwards he gets away with
the act by having the victim come to terms, to "appreciate" what has
been done to her. She effectively falls for him as a ridiculous "logical
consequence" of the sexual violence perpetrated on her. Such is the
storyline of the country's most popular TV drama series at the moment.
The other one, on Channel 7, is about slavery during the latter years of
King Rama V's reign. And, guess what, a slave girl's falling in love
with her master is the central premise of this very popular remake. It
is great that Nang Thas (Female Slave) does not necessarily justify
rape; it however posits the possibility of a slave being able to come to
"appreciate" her being owned and then being impregnated.
For these to be the highest-rated and most talked-about evening series
in this country is for us to accept that our culture enjoys sexual
violence and hierarchical dominance over women. This is something I
don't think I or the people of this country should accept.
Enough is enough. It is time for a change. Change in this sense does not
have to be time-requiring. The entertainment industry is packed with
talented writers who can put together some of the most
socially-adaptive, humanely-appropriate, as well as mass
audience-acceptable screenplays. Why rehash ancient scripts from
recycled plots which have all been used before? Why not have storylines
that move along with a culture that presumably progresses?
Some say art imitates life, but what if - just what if - life in
practice actually imitates art? We, as people working in the media and
entertainment industry, owe it to our culturally advancing society to
influence the Thai nation in the best ways possible.
There is no conceivable way to comprehend a boy growing up watching his
favourite soap and all the while learning from that drama that the best
way to get a girl is to hold her captive and rape her. If these soaps
don't change, boys will grow up to become men who think and act like the
lead characters in Sawan Bieng.
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18th March |
Taking Down Buddha Pants... |
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Thailand to hack US sites selling merchandise with Buddhist symbols
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See
full article from
Prachatai
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The
Thai Information and Communications Technology Ministry is to ‘hack and
crack' foreign websites deemed offensive to Thailand's revered
institutions.
A March 15 report in Krungthep Turakij newspaper (www.bangkokbiznews.com)
quoted a source at the ICT that the ministry could pursue legal
proceedings only with websites registered in Thailand, and is now
planning a ‘hack and crack' programme to hack offensive websites hosted
abroad and delete their contents, because the legal process would take
too long.
This approach may be somewhat illegal, but sometimes it might be
worth it, if [the websites] are really unacceptable, the source
said.
One website registered abroad has been found to advertise merchandise
including calendars, dolls, bags, hats, glasses, watches, trousers and
underwear, all with a logo of the Buddha meditating on a lotus, with the
face of a dog. It was reported to have upset some Buddhists.
The Technology Centre has found that the website has its server in
California, USA, and the centre has twice asked the ICT Ministry in
writing to shut down the website, but it is still online. The centre has
also asked the Foreign Ministry's Information Department to address the
problem through diplomatic means.
If within one month the problem is still not solved, I will ask for
cooperation from ‘internet cop' Pol Col Yanapol Yangyuen, Commander of
Office of Technology and Information Cases under the Department of
Special Investigation, to shut it down, said Booncherd. He added
that his centre has cooperated with relevant agencies in shutting down 5
similar websites which made commercial use of Buddhist symbols.
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17th March |
Blanking the Censor... |
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Thai director to present censored film with blanks
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From the
Nation
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After
dealing with the censorship of his film for nearly a year, Apichatpong
"Joe" Weerasethakul will finally screen his acclaimed Sang Sattawat
(Syndromes and a Century), with silent, black frames to replace six
scenes the Board of Censors found objectionable.
It's cynical, but actually it's a statement for the audience to make
them aware that they are being blinded from getting information in this
society, says the director.
Apichatpong first planned to show Syndromes last April in a
limited release in Bangkok cinemas, but he cancelled the screenings when
the censors said four scenes had to go. A petition against the action
was started, and the director formed the Free Thai Cinema Movement to
call for better treatment for filmmakers.
With the election of a new government and a new film law on the books,
Apichatpong said he submitted his film to the censors again, hoping they
would view it differently. The censors asked that two more scenes be
excised.
I was wrong. It's worse than the first time, but it was still worth
the effort. I learned that the problem with the new film law is not the
law itself, but the people who will be enforcing it, he says.
For a limited-release screening by the Thai Film Foundation,
Syndromes will have the six censored scenes replaced by silent,
scratched black frames - the longest of which runs for seven minutes.
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13th March |
Bangkok Banners... |
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Thailand joins the Danish bacon boycott
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From the Bangkok Post
|
More
than 600 Muslims gathered in front of the Danish embassy in Bangkok on
Wednesday to protest 17 Danish newspapers for reprinting cartoons
mocking Mohammad.
The Muslims are also displeased with the Danish government for ignoring
the matter as it cited that this is the freedom of expression of the
press.
A few hours later, the protesters dispersed peacefully. They said they
would present a letter to Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama on this
issue.
They also urged Muslims around the world to boycott products from
Denmark.
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12th March |
Censorship Syndrome... |
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Thai Appeal over art house cuts rejected
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From the
Bangkok Post
|
The
Thai censorship appeals committee has upheld the decision to cut four
scenes from the art-house movie Saeng Satawat (Syndromes and a Century)
and ordered the director to cut an additional scene as well. We
upheld the verdict because the movie contains inappropriate images of
doctors and monks, said Police Major-General Somdej Khaokam of the
Central Investigation Bureau, who chaired the hearing yesterday.
The film's director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, appealed after the
Censorship Board ordered him to cut four scenes from Saeng Satawat last
April.
These scenes featured a monk playing a guitar, doctors drinking whisky,
doctors kissing and two monks playing with a radio-controlled toy.
The appeal committee ordered him to also cut a scene showing statues of
Prince Mahidol of Songkhla and the late Princess Mother.
Apichatpong, who defended his case before the committee, expressed his
extreme disappointmentL It was like I was on trial for being a
communist. But he said he would cut the film as instructed: I
will release the mutilated version as a statement and as a historical
record of Thailand.
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9th March |
To Be Continued... |
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Air Hostess claims defamation as her picture is linked to Controversial TV
programme
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From the Bangkok Post
|
The
author of the book on which the popular soap opera Songkhram Nang Fah
(Air Hostess War) was based has been arrested for defamation.
The Children, Juveniles and Women's Division police yesterday pressed
the defamation charge against Royrudee Kenny.
Ms Royrudee was taken in for questioning after acknowledging the charge,
but was later released on bail.
The charge was filed by Patchara Silapapreecha, a flight attendant, who
claimed Royrudee had posted her photograph tagged as ''Cherry'', a
villainous female character portrayed in Songkhram Nang Fah, on a
website. Patchara said the posting had damaged her image.
However, Ms Royrudee denied the charge and said she had no idea how the
photograph had made it to the website.
Police also searched the writer's apartment in the Sathorn area and
impounded a computer.
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5th March |
No Hi5 for Thai Government... |
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Banning an entire networking site over an errant monk
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From the Bangkok Post
|
The
Thai Prime Minister’s Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair has
ordered the Information, Communications and Technology (ICT)
ministry to keep a close watch on the use of social networking
site
www.hi5.com after it emerged a Buddhist monk had been using
the site to woo women.
I am upset by this, he said: Any sort of misdeed
caused by monks results in the deterioration of Buddhism.
Jakrapob has already consulted with ICT ministry officials to
lay down possible measures to ensure that something like this
does not recur: We are still determining the pros and cons of
blocking the site altogether.
A new cyberlaw passed last year would require court permission
to block the site, although the government has broken this law
hundreds of times, and several thousands of websites are blocked
without court order or explanation.
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1st March |
Shock Horror... |
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Thai-Anxiety censored
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Thanks to Ray
|
It
seems that Thai-Anxiety is getting blocked by the ISP CyberPoint.
CyberPoint are a public WiFi service accessed with a pre-pay card that
seems to be getting installed in a lot of hotels as it's obviously a
fair bit cheaper that cabling up all the rooms.
The blocking seems to be of a single page:
www.thai-anxiety.com/sexa08a.htm
Surely a sex related page but only in an informational way.
I wonder what offends the censors?
Update:
Blocking 'Sex'
13th March 2008
It turns out that the naff CyberPoint censor URLs with sex in the name.
I shall have to rename the pages.
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5th February |
Cut to Ribbons... |
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Thai censors render Sweeny Todd unwatchable
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From Thai Visa
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Just
went to see Sweeney Todd, Demon barber of fleet street at Big C
in Pattaya last night. The movie was very well done but I recommend that
everyone save there money and not see this movie in a Thailand Theatre
as the Thai censors have pixellated out all the scenes of graphic
violence.
They censored out many of the highlighted scenes of the movie. It was
irritating and would give a second thought to seeing another movie in a
Thailand Theatre before putting down my ever weakening dollar for a
ticket. The censorship blotting really ruined the movie!
What was even better they censored the label from the drink the boy had
when he was drinking then in the following two scenes where the bottle
was on the table next to him they showed it. It said Gin. The woman had
already said it was gin, the bottle said it was gin; did they think that
when he put it into his mouth we wouldn't guess he was drinking Gin?
...I walked out after half an hour, completely unacceptable
censorship...
...I just saw the movie, with the censored throat slashings. It is an
insult to the movie makers and the audience. Either allow the film or
ban it. I think I might have turned my eyes away at the raw film, but
that is part of the authentic experience of watching a movie. My
reaction to the frequent pixilation was WTF!
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31st January |
Letters from Russia... |
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Russian internet addresses will enable the isolation of Russian users
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Presumably this possibility would apply equally to other countries using
their own alphabet such as ThailandFrom
Publius Pundit see
full article
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In
a couple of months' time, the horrors of censorship depicted by George
Orwell in 1984 will seem like childish pranks compared to the powers
granted to the Russian authorities.
According to the Guardian, Russian internet users, will be completely
locked off from foreign traffic, which can be used to access the
majority of free information, as currently happens in China. Those whose
work requires access to foreign sites (ministries, departments and state
companies) will have to be approved by the Special Services.
In practice, this will be achieved by the introduction of Cyrillic
domain names, which will automatically cut the whole of Russia off from
the World Wide Web and the Internet's other services.
The 'Russian Internet' project will look at the question of how they
can best communicate within their own country. The internationalization
of domain names will give them the chance to do what is being attempted
in China, where three top-level domain names, written in Chinese
characters, are used: .net, .com and .cn, says Wolfgang Kleinwachter,
member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance, explaining the
technical details.
The key question here is whether Russia's own root servers will use
Russian international domain names when deciding where to direct their
enquiries on the Internet -- that is will they be autonomous from the
already existing root servers of the net, which are mainly based in the
USA (5 in the USA, 2 in Northern Europe).
In Kleinwachter's opinion, the worst case scenario would be everyone
having to register domain names using the Cyrillic top-level domain .rf.
Then Russian would have its own root name server, and it is much easier
to control a top-level domain than a hundred thousand subdomains,
says the expert.
According to Kleinwachter, it has been suggested that people will be
able to access Russian sites freely but will require a password
sanctioned by state authorities to access the global Internet. In this
way, the Kremlin will be able to control each citizen's contact with the
outside world.
The authorities however assert that this will make tracing
"cyber-criminals" easier. Anyone wishing to read the European press,
including the Ukrainian, will now become a dangerous criminal.
Western IT specialists point out that this innovation would also make
all Russian hackers absolutely untraceable without cooperation from the
Russian authorities. [Perhaps The ASCII internet world would the have to
block all communication from untraceable sources]
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29th January |
A Coup for the Censors... |
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Thai political book is banned
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From
FACT Thai see
full article
See also
www.pcpthai.org for a pdf file of the book
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The
Author of A Coup for the Rich, Professor Giles Ji Ungphakorn,
writes:
I have just been informed today by Thammasart University bookshop, the
only bookshop to agree to sell my book, that the Thai special branch
have issued a letter to the shop banning the sale of Coup for
the Rich.
This book, which was published in January 2007, has sold over 900
copies, almost its entire print run. Mostly the book was sold directly
by myself or by Thammasart University bookshop. This is because my own
university bookshop refused to sell the book, citing “incorrect
procedure”.
A Coup for the Rich criticises the military coup and the liberals
who supported the coup. It discusses the role of the Thai Monarchy,
citing the work of Paul Handley (The King Never Smiles). There is
a chapter on the politics of the Peoples’ Movement. The final chapter
deals with the crisis in the South.
Bangkok Metropolitan Police, acting under an appeal from the Special
Branch to investigate my book, have issued a letter to the Thamasart
bookshop banning the sale of A Coup for the Rich. According to
the letter, dated 18 January 2008, the book is currently under
investigation concerning charges of lèse majesté. The letter, signed by
deputy police chief Chutti Tamanowanij, states that the continued sale
of the book risks creating a “misunderstanding” about the Monarchy among
the Thai population.
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26th January |
Air Hostess Truce... |
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No fighting in uniform, Thai TV producers told
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From the
Nation see
full article
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The
spat over the Air Hostess War TV soap ended yesterday after a
talk hosted by Culture Ministry.
The producers, Exact, agreed to remove any fight scenes of characters in
flight attendant uniforms, to make the uniform skirts two inches longer
and to add some scenes showing cabin crew working hard for passengers.
Battle of Angels director Nipon Phewnena said the changes were
not seen as damaging because he wanted everyone to be happy and feel
better about the soap opera, and he affirmed this would not affect the
story's intensity, continuity and entertainment.
Nipon admitted audience ratings had actually increased following the
flight attendant's movement against it, although he insisted it was not
the kind of ratings boost the producers were proud of. He said this had
taught drama producers to work more carefully.
The Thai Airways International (THAI) Union acting chairman Somsak
Srinuan said the union was satisfied with Exact's proposal and would
keep a close watch for such improvements in the soap opera.
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23rd January |
Cutting Catfights... |
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Thai TV soap to trim air hostess claws
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From the
BBC see
full article
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The
makers of a sexy Thai television soap opera have apologised to aircrew
who say it demeans them, and have promised to tone it down.
The Air Hostess War details love rivalries and jealousies among
the crew of a fictional airline.
After an outburst of protest, the programme makers have now promised
longer skirts and no more "catfights".
But they ruled out cancelling the show, as flight attendants had
demanded in an official complaint to the government.
There won't be any more catfight scenes between flight attendants
while they are on duty or in uniform in public, said managing
director Tokankiet Viravan of the programme makers, Exact.
He added: The skirts our actresses wear are not shorter than those
worn by hostesses at other international airlines. But we will make our
skirts longer.
The Thai government says it plans to bring all sides together later in
the week to resolve disagreements.
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22nd January |
Not So OK Nation... |
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Thai blogs are being deleted without notice
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From
FACT Thai see
full article
From
Prachatai see
full article
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OKNation
is a Thai blog hosting company associated with the Nation newspaper
group. They have recently been deleting blogs without warning.
For instance Lalida's blog about the "3rd gender" (lady boys) was
shut down yesterday with no warning. Even the posts about Lalida’s
transgender blog have been deleted.]
The blogger wrote: Lalida is banned because it targeted on the
“3rd gender” that falls under our rule which wants to keep out
attacks on personality and debates that involve racism or sexism.
Putushon of the Republic of Poetry blog recently reported the
deletion of his blog on OK Nation. His account has been restricted
on December 20. On January 8, the blog has been entirely deleted
without warning.
Previously Wayward's blog has been banned due to strong language.
Independent Press, an anti-junta government blog, has also been
deleted by OK Nation.
OK Nation, part of the Nation Group, is a blog community platform
with fine ideals...
OK Nation was established in order to
building a place for intellectual freedom. Everyone has his own right
to write and distribute via the Internet, the most effective
communication channel.
The Nation Group as a media who are honest, trustworthy, updated, and
creative, opens blogs for everyone to share stories in your daily
life, experiences, knowledge and opinion to others freely."
But censorial rules:
- Any writings or opinions must not insult or
affect the institution of nation, religion, and king or affect the
stability of the nation.
- Do not use rude, insulting, instigating
language giving faults to other or breaking up the society. Also do
not include pornographic and obscene image, video clip and words.
- OK Nation reserves right to close any blog
and delete any content or opinion that are against the above statement
without prior notification to the blog or opinion owners.
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21st January |
The Air Hostess War... |
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Cabin crews declare war on Thai TV soap
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From the Bangkok Post
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Flight
attendants are upset over the way their profession is portrayed in a new
TV soap opera, Songkhram Nang Fah (The Air Hostess War),
and will today make their feelings public.
Cabin crew led by the Thai Airways International labour union will
petition Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sri-aroon to get the drama
pulled off the air.
Acting union president Somsak Srinual said the Channel 5 show, in which
female flight attendants battle to win the heart of a pilot, is
humiliating and hurts their image. It would also discourage young people
from entering the profession
They will petition the television station and the National Human Rights
Commission. Thai Airways president Apinant Sumaseranee and air force
chief ACM Chalit Phukphasuk will also get an earful.
The drama first aired on the channel last Tuesday and ran for three days
last week. Songkhram Nang Fah is scheduled to air Monday to
Thursday at 8.25pm. The female lead is a charming air hostess, the envy
of her co-workers, and a married pilot takes a fancy to her. The
melodrama contains many scenes in which characters exact revenge, get
jealous and fight each other.
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17th January |
A Thorn is the Side of the
Censor... |
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Author sues Thai book censors
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From Prachatai see
full article
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Well-known
Thai social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, author of the banned book Almost
a Century of Thorn-filled Thai Democracy, will lodge a court case
against the Special Branch Police Commander and the Interior Minister at
the Central Administrative Court on Jan 16.
Sulak wants the court to lift the Special Branch Commander's order
prohibiting sales and distribution, and confiscating copies of his book
that was published in April 2007.
On Oct 1, 2007, Pol Maj Gen Sombat Suphajiva acting as printing
authority issued Order 5/2007 banning Sulak's book that criticizes
Thailand's democracy, alleging that the material may cause unrest and
degrade good morals in Thai society. Copies of the book have been
confiscated by the police since.
Sulak appealed to Interior Minister Gen Surayud Chulanont on Oct 8,
2007, and never received a response. So he decided to ask the
Administrative Court to lift the ban order and have the defendants pay
him damages of 1,094,000 baht with an annual interest rate of 7.5%
starting from the date of prosecution.
Sulak said that the Special Branch Police had illegitimately and
unlawfully issued the order to ban and confiscate his book without
presenting any reasons and facts to prove what part in the book ‘may
cause unrest and degrade public good morals', and had failed to grant
him a chance to defend his book.
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8th January |
The Police Are Listening... |
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Into your internet connections
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From Bytes in Brief
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The
Royal Thai Police Department has asked the Telephone Organization of
Thailand (TOT) to allow it to monitor the phone numbers of people
logging on to the Internet.
The Department wants TOT to provide it with caller ID features for
all local phone numbers dialing into the Internet, including the
Internet users' log-in names.
The Department says the purpose of this request is "to protect
against any crimes that may occur on the network" and
acknowledges that the plan would mean that all Internet access in
Thailand would monitored by the police.
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6th January |
Good Grief!... |
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Thai website taken down after comments about death of princess
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From the
Nation
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Thanapol
Eiwsakul, editor of the Fah Diew Kan political magazine website
sameskybooks.org, told The Nation yesterday it was no longer
accessible. Other websites hosted on the same server were also
offline as collateral damage.
It was like shutting down a printing house that prints a
magazine. This is the price we're paying, said Thanapol, who
insisted he always cooperated with the authorities and deleted
material considered offensive to the monarchy.
He believed the posting of critical remarks following the death of
Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana might have led to the
shutting down of the site by the Information and Communications
Technology Ministry. Some visitors to the site posted critical
remarks to the effect that the news media generalised when it said
the whole country was in grief following the death of the Princess.
One correspondent expressed refusal to follow the mourning dress
code.
The ministry sent Thanapol an e-mail explaining the site had been
shut as a result of offensive content. Thanapol said he had received
no warning from the ministry.
Thanapol said he was considering legal action against the ministry
and the host company, Internet Service.
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