Thailand

The Internet is supervised by the National Information Technology Committee (NITC), the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), the Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) and the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT). The rise of such bodies has hindered Internet growth more than encouraged it. The CAT by law has a minimum 32 per cent share in all privately-owned ISPs. The media, most of which have websites, do not complain about censorship, even though relations between the independent media and populist prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra are tense. But the NITC said in July 2001 it would hunt down "unsuitable content" on the Internet. It ordered ISPs to retain connection data about their customers for at least three months, so that undesirable websites could be spotted and blocked and those who logged on to them could be prosecuted. The police and technical and legal experts work closely with the NITC to monitor cybercafés as well as the Internet to identify target sites. Information and communication technology minister Surapong Suebwonglee said on 19 December he had asked the country's Internet operators, including a score of ISPs, to block access to "obscene" or "subversive" websites. The daily paper The Nation said he had defined "subversive" as endangering national security and the monarchy. The minister said he wanted the Internet in Thailand to be "a pleasant place." Links: The Communications Authority of Thailand The Nation media group