Thailand Passes Internet Security Law Decried as 'Cyber Martial Law' (reuters.com) 38
Thailand's military-appointed parliament on Thursday passed a controversial cybersecurity law that gives sweeping powers to state cyber agencies, despite concerns from businesses and activists over judicial oversight and potential abuse of power. From a report: The Cybersecurity Act, approved unanimously, is the latest in a wave of new laws in Asian countries that assert government control over the internet. Civil liberties advocates, internet companies and business groups have protested the legislation, saying it would sacrifice privacy and the rule of law, and warning compliance burdens could drive foreign businesses out of Thailand. The military government has pushed for several laws it said would support the country's digital economy, including an amendment to the Computer Crime Act in 2017, which has been used to crack down on dissent.
Despite Concerns??? Haha.. (Score:1)
"concerns from businesses and activists over judicial oversight and potential abuse of power"
Why don't you guys worry first about the fact that you're a military dictatorship and then you maybe won't have to worry about things like freedom.
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Why don't you guys worry first about the fact that you're a military dictatorship
Indeed. It is silly to worry about a slippery slope when you are already at the bottom.
The generals are running the country, there are soldiers on the street corners, and they are worried about "potential" abuse of power?
The internet is lost. Need to start over. (Score:1)
The internet is lost.
Not because of this: this is one tiny country without much weight to throw around. No, the internet is lost because of how much other countries with a lot of weight to throw around, are throwing it around.
We used to have an internet that put power in the hands of people. That is suffering the death of a thousand cuts. The increasing top-down control is sometimes sold as "for our own good", or "for the children", or "to keep you safe". Sometimes it's political control, as in China. Somet
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We used to have an internet that put power in the hands of people.
When was that? Do you mean when the NSF dictated policy, almost nobody had access, and most requests for domains were denied?
Not too surprising (Score:2)
If you want to convince your "citizens" that they are fine, just censor the Internet. Seems to work fine for North Korea and China.
That being said, censorship of the Internet should be treated as a crime.
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You do realize that this subversive comment will negatively impact your Social Credit Score, right?
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Don't you know how computers work, is that their social credit score or some ones else's social credit score, even an imaginary person, or a deceased person. Now the is a new market for authoritarian internet, a deceased persons ID, who cares how crappy their social credit score is.
not the best tourist stop in the world (Score:4, Interesting)
Although I know a few people that go there periodically like florida snowbirds because of the insanely low cost of living (you can go there with a small stash of american dollars and live the high life for a year pretty easily), it's a military dictatorship with a king that legally can throw you in jail for 15 years for looking at him wrong. Despite having some "good reviews", I'd be a bit scared to go there, simply due to the ease at which you can get yourself in serious trouble, and the almost complete lack of options if it happens. So them passing a draconian "internet security" law just seems like they're modernizing their laws to keep up with technology. They've got a noose around everything else, this is just in keeping with the theme - piss off the government, rot in jail. Too much walking on eggshells over there for me thanks.
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if you cant go someplace without being a dick it is probably best that you stay home
Thailand is full of paradoxes (Score:1)
I've spent a little time in Thailand, SE, Central and Eastern Asia, South, Central, North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East.
Before every trip, I check on the photography, OTC drugs, and encryption laws for every country. For the last 5+ yrs, I travel with a chromebook running ubuntu, but it boots into chromeOS by default, without my USB boot media connected. Good for borders
Last trip to Thailand was a few years ago before the King died. There were a few killings on the streets of Bangkok while we were
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I'd be a bit scared to go there, simply due to the ease at which you can get yourself in serious trouble
The chance of a foreigner getting in trouble are very remote. Just follow these two simple rules:
1. Don't smuggle drugs
2. Don't get involved in local politics
The military is focused on suppressing the Thaksin supporting "Yellow Shirts" in the northwest, and the muslims in the extreme south. They have little presence in tourist areas like Phuket and Pattaya. Tourism is big business in Thailand, and the generals are well aware of that. The businesses that rely on tourism are mostly in urban "Red Shirt"
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Don't forget to add "don't use social media". And I wasn't talking about worrying about my criminal behavior, it's a concern about breaking a law I wasn't expecting. Venting on social media over how the bus wasn't on time is one of those things that just might not be "OK" if the wrong political official reads it.
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Yes, but "don't use social media" is good general purpose advice for any setting.
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Although I know a few people that go there periodically like florida snowbirds because of the insanely low cost of living (you can go there with a small stash of american dollars and live the high life for a year pretty easily), it's a military dictatorship with a king that legally can throw you in jail for 15 years for looking at him wrong. Despite having some "good reviews", I'd be a bit scared to go there, simply due to the ease at which you can get yourself in serious trouble, and the almost complete lack of options if it happens. So them passing a draconian "internet security" law just seems like they're modernizing their laws to keep up with technology. They've got a noose around everything else, this is just in keeping with the theme - piss off the government, rot in jail. Too much walking on eggshells over there for me thanks.
Good. I like visiting Thailand and we don't need any more arseholes there.
For everyone else, I'll let you know about Thailand. Thai people are extremely friendly. The negativity you hear above comes elusively from people who've never been there. You'll find it much easier to break laws in Thailand than in the US or any other western countries for two reasons, 1. the cops will simply take bribes for minor crimes (it's a nice country, but still a 3rd world one) and; 2. Thai laws are for Thais..
That last
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Osama says: "will not fix. working as intended."
Yeah, we failed... (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe we never had a chance, but - as techies - we failed to keep the Internet out of the hands of national governments.
Once, some of us had hopes that the scope and reach of the Internet would weaken national governments, especially the totalitarian ones. Instead, even the (theoretically) democratic governments of the West are getting in on the censorship and restriction games.
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we failed to keep the Internet out of the hands of national governments.
The Internet was created by a national government.
Common for Asian Countries (Score:1)
Most Asian countries are heavily influenced by Confucianism/Han Fei Zi, so this is not surprising. Also not surprising is the general apathy towards heavy-handed governments. Asians are great people, but their governments not so much. Xi Jinping of China is a great admirer of Han Fei Zi, one of China's legalist philosophers. His writings are required reading for most Chinese, particularly the Han. Thailand, North Korea, Singapore, and now even Australia (although a "western" nation) have gone down the road
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Comparing Australia (where I live) to countries like North Korea, China and others that are far less free is wrong.
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At least I can carry a six-pack of beer onto a domestic flight and not show ID at any point during check-in/boarding. US is just like USSR - "papers, please" and a secret no-fly list.
Re: Common for Asian Countries (Score:2)
"Xi Jinping of China is a great admirer of Han Fei Zi, one of China's legalist philosophers."
Han Fei is not so bad. However it appears from his policies that Emperor Xi is also quite a fan of Shang Yang, who might fairly be called the father of absolutism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]
One can perhaps gain some insight from reading Shang's book.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]