Bangkok Post: Thai Totalitarianism Coming to Cyberspace

Thailand gets new cyber crime law

By Supichaya Rakbua

Bangkok Post

The chief immediate effect of the new bill will be to outlaw any attempt to get around government censors to access any of the tens of thousands of sites censored for moral or political purposes, or "to damage the country".The government pushed the new law by saying it hopes the bill will provide an effective legal tool to fight cyber crime, including theft of data and chatroom contacts that lead to rape.

The National Legislative Assembly approved the Cyber Crime Bill, which gives officials power to crack down effectively on hacking and internet-related crimes through harsher punishments.

The bill sailed through its third reading on Wednesday by a vote of 119 to 1. It requires royal endorsement before it can be formally enacted into law.

The bill regards as a crime the intention to withhold internet protocol (IP) addresses and violators are subject to severe punishment, according to the NLA special committee assigned to scrutinise the law.

The IP is a unique address used to identify computer users while communicating with others on the network. However, the committee said, "ill-intentioned users" often hide or falsify their computer addresses so that they can easily carry out illegal acts and get away with them.

The committee believed tighter controls on IP addresses would help tackle the root cause of cyber problems.

Penalties apply to all illegal acts using the internet, including those carried out abroad and deemed to "damage the country both directly and indirectly".


I thought this last coup was supposed to bring more democracy and political freedom.

The generals lied, of course, and there won't be any consequences for their lies.

Now, what were the reasons for the coup again?

Here is the rundown of the what has occurred since the "democratic" coup:

Thaksin is free and still has all his money.

Thai Rak Thai party members are free, organizing to be in power again, and still have all their money.

No indictments against anybody for any corruption or malfeasance during the Thaksin years.

More corruption since the coup.

More terrorism since the coup.

No democracy since the coup.

A horrible constitution will replace the 1997 constitution.

The generals are dipping into the state coffers for propaganda purposes.

The generals are dipping into the state coffers for political purposes.

The generals are putting themselves at the helms of state agencies again, interfering in business again, and taking pleasure trips all over the world using the tax payer's money.

The economy has stagnated and by all indicators slowed a lot since the coup.

The generals handpicked legislators have passed laws that are moronic.

The general's policies in the South have led to more violence.

The general's economic policies have caused a lack of confidence in the foreign community.

The generals have nationalized a foreign asset, iTV.

The generals have wages various right-wing nationalist propaganda campaigns to boost their popularity.

The generals have dressed themselves up in yellow and have hidden behind sufficiency theory to justify their horrible performances and idiotic policies.

And now, the "democratic generals" are putting the screws to those in cyber space who oppose their idiocy. Why shouldn't they? The generals already have the Thai broadcast media, the newspapers, and radio stations in their back pocket, so why shouldn't they control the internet also.

But, of course, only Fonzi at his insignificant little blog and a few others are bothering to point any of this out, as Thai totalitarianism continues to roll on without any criticism.

Bangkok Post Sunday Persepective Report: Siam Commercial Bank Securities Executives Cheating Farang and Thai Investors

INVESTORS SCALDED IN SECURITIES FRAUD


A sweet-talking stock broker allegedly is responsible for relieving several dozen investors of their hard-won savings, writes SIRIPORN SACHAMUNEEWONGSE


Bangkok Post


It was in May last year when Michael's friends in Chiang Mai, the Meyers, introduced him to a securities firm in Bangkok , the Siam Commercial Bank Securities (SCBS). The Meyers had initially found out about SCBS and its services from a marketing executive/broker of the company, Mrs Wanavadee Sripurd, who had flown to Chiang Mai to present them an investment proposal that she said allowed prosperous returns on initial investments. The Meyers had invested with Wanavadee, a friendly 33-year-old Thai woman, three months previous and had already made some quick returns.


What do you think happened?


On February 21, the SEC also accused Wanavadee Sripurd of fraud - in the amount of 130 million baht. She is nowhere to be found.

She has been called by the police to come in for questioning, but has thus far failed to show up. As of now there are no arrest warrants out for her.

Siam Commercial Bank did nothing. The Thai police did nothing. They didn't even issue an arrest for this woman who clearly defrauded many people out of their money in the name of Siam Commercial Bank Securities.

Read the rest here. cache

What is the moral of this story? Don't trust a system when there is no rule of law.

Also, there are also those favorite maxims that our elders always taught us : "There is no such thing as a sure thing." That is unless you are part of a criminal conspiracy in Thailand and you have the government protecting your criminal behavior.