Slashdot Mirror
Thailand Shuts Down 43,000 More Websites
An anonymous reader writes "Bangkok Post reports that the Thai government has now shut down over 43,000 websites deemed defamatory to the royal institution. Thai ISPs are warned to cooperate 'voluntarily' or lose their license. This is in addition to 17,000+ that were recently blocked for 'national security,' including both Facebook and Twitter accounts."
We'll freaking do it. Don't think we won't, Thailand!
Should have designed the internet to be more resistant to oppressive governments.
Since they are more dangerous than nuclear weapons anyway.
Interestingly, Bangkok is only the international name, in Thai it's called Krungthep.
is that the idiocy of one country will force people to care about what happens to their own - that Thailand will be a warning about where the UK et. al. are headed.
Our culture doesn't get smarter, it just finds new ways of being retarded.
Interestingly, Bangkok is only the international name, in Thai it's called Krungthep.
Does Krungthep say, in Thai, anything about banging cocks?
Yes, it's a serious question.
Stop smirking!
I really wish this would have happened here, in Sweden. Then there would be a public outrcy, the monarchy would have been abolished in 2 seconds, and we wouldn't have to suffer this stupid coverage of the crown princess and her upcoming boring wedding every XXXXXXX minute on every XXXXXXX channel. Our king might be harmless, but he's hardly more important than uncensored access to the internet.
Perhaps you have also heard of PR, public relations. Those purveyors of lies and false images in order to create a false impression of some of the biggest arse holes on the planet, of course rich arse holes.
All people are defined by the actions. Any arse hole that lets tens of thousands of web sites be shut down in their name in order to preserve the bull shit public relations image, well guess what, they are arse holes.
If the Thai people are having their ability to critique the political leadership than it behoves free thinkers from around the world to make those criticisms seem like nothing compared to the public derision piled upon the decietful and shameful Thai un-noble un-royal house. The sheer arrogance of people who believe they are special because of the particular hole they were squeezed out of, special enough to be honoured and obeyed by every citizen of their country and if that's not enough they also expect that specialness to be acknowledged by the rest of the world, more than 6 billion meant to be less than a bunch stupendously arrogant arse holes, they are special, a special kind of arse hole.
There is never an excuse for that kind of behaviour, for that arrogance of the minority over the free and democratic will of the majority. Monarchy a lie that has been based on centuries of torturing to death anyone who disagreed, well that time is over and, no way it is ever coming back.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
The King is a fink!
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Actually the real full name of bangkok is
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit
it means
The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarma
Sounds like a mugger walking up to you and asking you to voluntarily hand over your cash, or he'll be forced to shoot you. Just about any time someone is asking you to "voluntarily" do something, it's just a veiled threat.
This is inaccurate. Thailand is a nation that has had as many coups since 1932 as the US has had elections.
The King has not put a single PM into power in recent years. Most are removed via political jockeying from their opponents. The only Thai PM to complete his term was Thaksin Shintrawa (sp) and he was ousted for corruption in his second term by a military coup (Thailand is a third world nation, did you expect political stability). Most coups/oustings are simply attempts by one political party, not in power to gain power. Thaksin is far from innocent (who is), he is the main driving force as well as the bankroll of the recent political unrest in Bangkok.
Thailands biggest political forces are the rich families like the Nana family. Mostly ethnic Chinese, which is a major division between the rich and the poor, who are mostly ethnic Thai. Most of the unrest is caused by these power-brokers.
The King is about the only stable political force in Thailand, this is mainly because the King rarely speaks about politics. I'd hate to think how bad things will get when the King dies (and I doubt this will be too long). The last demonstration saw Silom burn and 50 people killed.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
This is true, but it has little to do with the King and a lot to do with the wealthy Bangkok families who hold the real political power. The King of Thailand has as much political influence as the Queen of England and deliberately tries to keep the royal family out of politics (much like HRH Elizabeth II).
The current party in power who ousted the PPP (Peoples Power Party) are funded by the wealthy Thai's and backed by the army (the real political decider in Thailand, if the army supports your party you will get in). Meanwhile the "Red Shirts" are backed and funded by ousted PM Thaksin Shintarwa (who was, until recently one of Thailand's wealthiest).
Perhaps you should learn about a countries political situation before driveling on about it.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
They make between 900,000 and a million automobiles a year, have a diversified economy and are a net food exporter.
"Thailand has a GDP worth 8.5 trillion Baht (on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis), or US$627 billion (PPP). This classifies Thailand as the 2nd largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Despite this, Thailand ranks midway in the wealth spread in Southeast Asia as it is the 4th richest nation according to GDP per capita, after Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia."
They have a million person military with advanced fighters like the F-16 block 50 and Saab/BAE Gripen
The UN classifies them as Developing, where the classic "third world country" is an under developed country.
Really the only thing that links all the under developed countries to the classical Cold War "third world country" is that all third world country demand and receive Western aid.
And if slashdot is not blocked, the Thai net censors have been a little negligent.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
The President of the United States can not declare war.
The United States Congress declares war.
So...George Bush didn't declare war on Iraq or Afghanistan, the United States Congress voted for the use of force (the new PC way to declare war here).
For Iraq the law is...
The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution (formally the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, Pub.L. 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498, enacted October 16, 2002, H.J.Res. 114) is a joint resolution (i.e., a law) passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing the Iraq War.
For the Afghan War and the Global War on Terror the law is...
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (Pub.L. 107-40, 115 Stat. 224, enacted September 18, 2001
I don't mind fake monarchy as such, or the king himself (I've met him twice, seems like a decent guy who would be better off doing environmental work of some kind). But I really wish we could choose out king (or queen) in an election. Like it was done in the old days, before the 16th century kings decided that they and their children were chosen by god. (it would also be nice/fun if we could cut of their heads if we got bored with them, unfortunately that's not really an option in the 21st century.)
I surf everyday and haven't run into a blocked web page since 2006 when youtube was banned. Also we're with ToT and bit torrent is fine here.
If slashdot gets banned because of this non-news you guys can all go suck a dick.
Most Thais view the monarchy as a symbol of national pride, mutual respect, and is part of their overall spiritualism. For example, before any movie begins everyone stands to the national anthem and images of the current King doing good deeds and meeting with the public. It reminds me much of how we used to say the pledge of allegiance in grammar school. Many Asian cultures (past and present) have rules against defamatory content re: the monarchy, with Nepal being one of them up until the current decade. It's really not a big deal to anyone over here...it's more a form of public politeness then anything else. As far as this being some form of political censorship, think again, it's not. The Thais have much more freedom to express their political views then say Americans. Can anyone imagine a protest in America where LAX was shut down for a week and filled with protesters against the Bush regime? How about the takeover of Times Square by the Tea Party People for a few weeks, complete with cots, barbed wire, and slingshots? It would never happen; the protestors would be shot (perhaps) dead and then carted away within a few hours. Hell, try smoking a fag on the beach in LA and u get a ticket! .
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
No.
In Thai the correct connotation for that is "jack wow" or "chuck wow" depending on your accent. It means to "fly (your own) kite".
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
It's not blocked yet. I live in Bangkok.
Oddly, most of the sites I come across that are blocked are porn sites, and not many of them (i.e. it's not difficult to access porn as most sites are not blocked).
*ahem*
I mean sites that my friend comes across. Yeah, that's the ticket. Anyway, the blocks are easily avoided by proxy services, and they are really slow about blocking those. Although, anonymouse.org has recently (in the past few months) come under the block list.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
Monarchs help with continuity and political stability. No matter who gets elected there is always some form of continuity - national identity - some form of heritage to remind people who they are or what they stand for - even if many of those things are ascribed to modern non-absolute monarchs and may have previously been outlawed by their predecessors.
...and I should know since I've traveled there many times and I even speak .
Thailand gets a worse name than it deserves, based on stories like this. It's actually a relatively open society and just about every development index has them at the top of "developing country" (if they could clean up their tap water, they'd probably break the threshold). Speech is only limited when it comes to the King and Buddha, both of which are highly respected, but not really "in power" (influential, but not making and enforcing laws). Of course, that doesn't make their censorship ethical, but it shouldn't be considered to be an oppressive government.
There's an an ounce of justification to the recent violence, but most of it came from the rural poor with nothing to lose, fighting for the one PM who stood up for them. Unfortunately, that politician that tried to help out the poor (Thaksin Siniwatra), accumulated no less than $2.2 billion while in office, and accused of countless corruption charges (convicted on a couple of them in absentia while he living in exile). Many poor refuse to admit he's corrupt, or say "well sure he is, all the politicians are, but at least he helps out the poor that desperately need it." The situation really is a mess, with no clean way to bridge the gap between the poor and the middle+ class. While they have some political instabilities right now, I would still consider it to be the most awesome place on Earth (where else can you go that has virtually no violent crime, you can get 1 hour Thai massage for $4 and the best Pad Thai ever for $0.50?).
I think that the monarchy will be phased out soon anyway, as the King's health is waning and the crown prince is not very well liked, despite the lese mejeste laws. But make no mistake, despite such laws, the king was justifiably considered a "benevolent dictator." He is an engineer, and used his skills to plan and update infrastructure in the country to help out both the rich and the poor. There was actually reason to like him.
The only Thai PM to complete his term was Thaksin Shintrawa (sp) and he was ousted for corruption in his second term by a military coup
So their political system actually works better than the ones in the so-called first-world nations?
This list could go on and on and on... Removing a politician by the military due to corruption is actually how it's supposed to work. Corrupt politicians aren't the problem, they're the symptom of a broken political system.