Thailand asks Google to bend censorship rules

[captspectre]

If the reason for blocking websites was to stop people trying to make anthrax at home or trying out some stuff in the anarchists cookbook, i could kind of understand. But, this is the junta we are talking about. They don't want anybody to know about stuff like bent judges acting like mad dogs in public, bent coppers using scapegoats, murdering politicians hiding from justice. Self serving bs. I hope google told them where to go, otherwise anonymous will shame them more and more.

I fully agree with you AND I look for the "dear" leader to block Google in the near future if they do not do as he says! it has happened before,

[arrowsdawdle]

...'without a court order'....doesn't that mean 'illegally'.....???

"We don't need no stinking court order, we have Article 44."

[dieseldave1951]

ITS HERE ALREADY

If the reason for blocking websites was to stop people trying to make anthrax at home or trying out some stuff in the anarchists cookbook, i could kind of understand. But, this is the junta we are talking about. They don't want anybody to know about stuff like bent judges acting like mad dogs in public, bent coppers using scapegoats, murdering politicians hiding from justice. Self serving bs. I hope google told them where to go, otherwise anonymous will shame them more and more.

There's only one thing they want to prohibit Thais from knowing about. It's the REALLY BIG SECRET. If you Google it use a IP mask and non tracking search engine because I'm sure quite soon, even visiting sites will become a crime. They just cannot get that single Gateway in fast enough.

[manhood]

Well this "government" tries to hide everything and anything and what does this means: THERE IS A LOT OF WRONGDOING IN THIS GOVERNMENT.

And as long no free speach and press they can do whatever they like to do and with uneducated people in this country its soooo very easy to manipulate them!

I am so sorry for all the Thai people under the pressure of untrustworthy people ruling this country.

[dieseldave1951]

All the junta needs to do is to implement a 24 hour court that can issue court orders on demand, its not difficult.

That way they don't need to bend any rules... of course it would slow things down if the court required any evidence!

evidence ???? khao tao ???? evidence ????

[Caveat Emptor]

Do any rules apply to Thais or Thai government? They are FREE (to do as they please)..... regardless of how it impacts others or the country's standing in the world community (of which it might not be part of).

Hope I don't get warned again.

Don't worry as you are all set now, we are all nobody's unless having been warned or better still suspended by the forum. ??

I wonder if there was any ' or else ' edge to the govt's request ?

Control plus loss of face over any refusal would possibly make them act against a search engine but riots if they shut down social media.

[petedk]

Well something has happened for sure!

I work in a government institution that uses illegal copies of Windows and their server is not registered properly or whatever. (I often get the "untrusted website" message.

Today I cannot open anything to do with Google. I just get

"This Connection is Untrusted

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to accounts.google.com, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.

Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.
What Should I Do?

If you usually connect to this site without problems, this error could mean that someone is trying to impersonate the site, and you shouldn't continue.

This site uses HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to specify that Firefox only connect to it securely. As a result, it is not possible to add an exception for this certificate."

Even all the adds from Google dotted around Thai visas page are all blocked

What the <deleted>!

Edit: Please disregard this post. I set my "Time and Date" settings to automatically update. I noticed the date was completely wrong. I reset manually and everything is Ok.

Sorry.

[jjablonsky]

Just to be clear; unless it is a website directly hosted by Google they can not take the website “down” they simply filter your search results making it harder for you to find the site. Kind of like removing your listing from the phone book, your still there and you still have a phone number it’s just harder for people to find it.

And unless it’s in violation of the law of the country it is hosted in it probably won’t get taken down.

But there are a ton of other search engines out there.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines

as well as using Google through a VPN or a service like tor.

[AlQaholic]

That's pretty stupid as there are a host of other search engines that will find the stuff one is looking for just as easy as google. It sounds like these "committee" guys actually thought that google is running the web and hosting all those sites?

[spidermike007]

I wonder how many Thais are aware of what is going on here. I wonder how many Thais object to what is going on here. I wonder if there are any other considerations for Little P. besides staying in power. Does he ever consider his people, and their welfare? Has he ever considered that? Will he ever consider that? Is it only about power and the maintenance of that power? Is that all there is to this guy and his sycophantic band of mongers?

[schondie]

The problems here are that the junta is too thin skinned and cannot take the slightest criticism without waving the Section 44 card or taking you in for an "attitude readjustment". Also they don't really understand how the internet really works - what goes on the internet, stays on the internet regardless of how much you wish it away.

It seems like the junta would really like to have a very short list of government approved websites we could visit but that isn't going to happen in this day and age.

I hope even their most ardent supporters will start to see that censoring any type of criticism or hint of corruption is not what they promised after taking over.

[gandalf12]

If the reason for blocking websites was to stop people trying to make anthrax at home or trying out some stuff in the anarchists cookbook, i could kind of understand. But, this is the junta we are talking about. They don't want anybody to know about stuff like bent judges acting like mad dogs in public, bent coppers using scapegoats, murdering politicians hiding from justice. Self serving bs. I hope google told them where to go, otherwise anonymous will shame them more and more.

Google has no choice but to tell them where to go. If they didnt everyone would be asking for them to break the rules which obviously they can not do.

[sawadee1947]

I'm very sure Google will follow the requests of govt. because Thailand is the hub of internet activities....

[Mr Money Bags]

TVF engages in this behaviour all the time. What's the difference?

I can't help but wonder how many seconds my query will remain active......

You're Welcome!!

[Sawan Chan 7]

Do any rules apply to Thais or Thai government? They are FREE (to do as they please)..... regardless of how it impacts others or the country's standing in the world community (of which it might not be part of).

Hope I don't get warned again.

That's one reason many of us are here.Freedom that we didn't get in our home countries. I don't know how long you've been here or if you integrate into Thai society but after living here more than three decades it is obvious to me and quite frankly I am happy to ride my motorcycle with no helmet, pay immigration a couple of thousand baht a year to make my life easier and cheaper, ride through a red light if there's no-one there etc.

Maybe you want only the good things in Thailand plus the good things(only) from your old country. Rather a disillusioned way of living imho.

[JAG]

That's pretty stupid as there are a host of other search engines that will find the stuff one is looking for just as easy as google. It sounds like these "committee" guys actually thought that google is running the web and hosting all those sites?

I rather suspect that these "committee" guys simply do not understand how the internet works, and how people from different backgrounds and generations use it.

[lostmebike]

'Transparent Thailand'

[quandow]

MY GOD!!!! The absolute HUBRIS of these idiots!

"Please change rules that apply to the rest of the world because we don't like fair play nor allow objectivity. We wish to meld our folks' minds rather than let them make choices based on critical thinking."

FAWK!!!!!!

[Just1Voice]

Do any rules apply to Thais or Thai government? They are FREE (to do as they please)..... regardless of how it impacts others or the country's standing in the world community (of which it might not be part of).

Hope I don't get warned again.

That's one reason many of us are here.Freedom that we didn't get in our home countries. I don't know how long you've been here or if you integrate into Thai society but after living here more than three decades it is obvious to me and quite frankly I am happy to ride my motorcycle with no helmet, pay immigration a couple of thousand baht a year to make my life easier and cheaper, ride through a red light if there's no-one there etc.

Maybe you want only the good things in Thailand plus the good things(only) from your old country. Rather a disillusioned way of living imho.

I am happy to ride my motorcycle with no helmet

ride through a red light if there's no-one there etc.

You're a perfect example of the statement that stupidity is not limited to the Thai.

Three decades? I'm surprised you've managed to make it that long.

[Yann55]

The fact that a country asks a company to do something with heavy political consequences says something essential about the world we now live in.

There are 196 countries in the world. There are 50 companies with an annual revenue of more than 100 billion dollars. Estimated budget of Thai government (in 2014) : 71 billion dollars. Estimated revenue of Google in 2015 : 45 billion dollars (source Wikipedia).

To say that these companies have no political impact on politics around the world would be not only ignorant but foolish and/or of deliberate bad faith..

Most of the West, and many voices in the South and East, call for democracy to become universal. How can that ever happen if countries are in effect reporting to/ or dealing peer-to-peer with/ entities which are in essence un-democratic, and whose primary goal is to make money, regardless of the consequences on humanity, the environment, moral ethics and the planet's future ?

[SunsetT]

Generally but not always there is a certain pattern to having a General leading a nation , very few Generals can take criticism or negative feedback or being told by the people to naff off, hence censorship , restrictive freedom of speech , Asia is littered with despots over the centuries , Thailand is another case in Point , let the courts take Google to court under some censorship ruling, let them tie up the legal system, but better still Google should do the right thing under freedom of speech and remove its presence from Thailand , if it had the moral gumption that is.............................................. .

But the junta would love it if google withdrew. Less info. would then available to the Thai people. Best if the govt. must take legal action every time to get content removed, then at least the truth is out there for a short time to be copied, saved, and later shared through other channels if needed.

[MaxLee]

Why bother with this <deleted>, just cut off the internet already.

Yep, that's the only way for the paranoid regime to shut themselves out of criticism, of course at the cost of millions gazillion netizen hungry generation Y kids in Thailand going nuts and fury and BAAAAAAA into epidemic comas from which they would never ever recover in their lives............

[Lupatria]

The weird thing is these are the same loudmouths who want this country to become the IT hub of ASEAN while they do everything to turn it into a remote island.

[condo bought]

Siam.

Named after 'Freedom'.

[condo bought]

Modern day Thailand should be utterly ashamed of itself.

[stickylies]

[thhMan]

When I told my missus about this news report, she said she knew and Thai people are not very happy with whats going on with their country, from what she is reading on her Social Networks etc

I wonder what more would be done if "Officials" knew English....

I dont think Sandpit rules apply to well on a Global scale !

[elgordo38]

Generally but not always there is a certain pattern to having a General leading a nation , very few Generals can take criticism or negative feedback or being told by the people to naff off, hence censorship , restrictive freedom of speech , Asia is littered with despots over the centuries , Thailand is another case in Point , let the courts take Google to court under some censorship ruling, let them tie up the legal system, but better still Google should do the right thing under freedom of speech and remove its presence from Thailand , if it had the moral gumption that is.............................................. .

I have a feeling Google will fold and acquiesce to Thailands demands. After all its all about the money honey. They will take whatever the country allows rather than loose the whole pie. China has brought these large providers to heel and its looking more like China here everyday. We may look at Burma someday and wish we were that free. This government says there will be an election called in 2017 I say baloney. If it walks like a duck quacks like a duck its a duck.

[elgordo38]

The fact that a country asks a company to do something with heavy political consequences says something essential about the world we now live in.

There are 196 countries in the world. There are 50 companies with an annual revenue of more than 100 billion dollars. Estimated budget of Thai government (in 2014) : 71 billion dollars. Estimated revenue of Google in 2015 : 45 billion dollars (source Wikipedia).

To say that these companies have no political impact on politics around the world would be not only ignorant but foolish and/or of deliberate bad faith..

Most of the West, and many voices in the South and East, call for democracy to become universal. How can that ever happen if countries are in effect reporting to/ or dealing peer-to-peer with/ entities which are in essence un-democratic, and whose primary goal is to make money, regardless of the consequences on humanity, the environment, moral ethics and the planet's future ?

All these calls for democracy are a sham a cover up. Its not universal. Germany has become sensitive in all matters dealing with adverse comments on the immigrants flooding in. Its damage control by all. Single gateway Facebook monitoring, now Google they want complete control here over what you think and do and that control is being applied through fear plain and simple fear us obey us end of story.

[stickylies]

The weird thing is these are the same loudmouths who want this country to become the IT hub of ASEAN while they do everything to turn it into a remote island.

FYI: every HUB-statement here should be considered a joke ;-)