Thailand's telecoms police plan to make it mandatory to register all mobile-phone SIM cards and then to use mobile phone numbers as personal ID for access to public Internet nationwide.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has said it will ask Cabinet to approve a plan to register prepaid mobile phone users as part of the national censorship policy. NBTC secretary general Takorn Tantasith explained:

SIM registration is the first step to force all to have individual numbers, then the next step is the 'Single Sign On' policy.

The policy will require users of mobile phones to register their user name and password to access the Internet on all networks nationwide.

The agency would propose the plan, known as Single Sign On , to Cabinet to enact the registration process within six months.

Years ago, the NBTC tried to impose controls requiring operators to register the details of people who buy new prepaid SIM cards but few consumers cooperated, as they were reluctant to provide copies of their ID cards. But now the NBTC has suggested to method to make the registration process a little more practical.

Business operators who sell SIM cards will download an app onto their mobile phones. They will use the app to take a picture of the SIM card code and the buyer's ID card. The app will then immediately send data to the NBTC's computer server, connected with the servers of the five telecom operators. The NBTC server will verify the identity-card information and, if correct, send the verified data back to the telecom operator's server, to activate the SIM card. The data will not be stored on mobile phones of shop staff. Expats who don't have Thai ID cards can use passports.

Thailand's military leader Prayut Chan-o-cha has told business people that work permits are set to become easier to obtain.

Deputy leader M.R. Pridiyathon Devakula added that the government is aware that changes to the current process and especially to its tight reporting requirements are necessary if the goal of bringing more international headquarters to Thailand is to be achieved:

He said that: We are making the first move already, noting that the current limited term of work permits will be significantly extended: It won't be a 90 days visa, it will be two years.

In addition, the requirement that permit holders report to the government every 90 days will be dropped, and those reports required may be made by email or letter, ending the need to report in person.

Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri, spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, has said tourists DO NOT need to carry passports at all times.

His comment came when he was responding to the recent tourist shakedown reports in various media outlets over the past month. He stated that if asked to show their passports, tourists can produce their documents at a later time if necessary.

With his clarification, Thawornsiri brings an end to an expat point of argument spanning years relating to the need to carry a copy, the original or nothing at all. Pol Lt Gen Prawut also told ASTV Manager that the RTP would be conducting a probe into allegations in an article published by The Sydney Morning Herald last week that police officers had stopped, searched, harassed and extorted bribes from foreigners along Sukhumvit Road.

This now brings the number of investigations into the reported stop and searches to three. Pol Maj Gen Apichai Thi-amart, chief of the Tourist Police Division, said he has also ordered an investigation into the matter as have the Ministry of Tourism and Sports following discussions with the British Ambassador to Thailand.

But what does he know, he's just been dissolved. Dissolution of the Royal Thai Police

See article from 2bangkok.com

The Legal and justice system reform committee proposes the model of reorganization of the Royal Thai Police Office:

Dissolution of the Royal Thai Police Office [meaning the end of the centralization of all police into a common command] Transfer the following agencies:

• Forest police to the Forest Department
• Railway police to the State Railway of Thailand
• Tourist police to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports

Comment: Avoiding hassle

Thanks to DavidT