Thai Military Regime Spies on Internet Users

"Facebook was temporarily blocked and on September 19th Wikipedia was blocked."

Since announcing martial law on May 20th the Thai military government has been stifling the press, shutting down radio stations and following internet users. Facebook was temporarily blocked and on September 19th Wikipedia was blocked.

Internet activists are working overtime to inform users of their rights and pressure the government to stop this.

Arthit Suriyawongkul takes the podium at a conference help by the NGO Civil Rights Defenders in Stockholm.

His red T shirt sends a message loud and clear about his organisation Thai Netcitizens Network, its says  Keep Calm and code your rights.

”It started off after the coup in 2006 working on the issue of censorship and trying to distribute software that can circumvent the censorship. 2011 we also doing more on privacy and data protection as well.”

Three years later when another military coup happened they knew what to expect.

Except this time the military are more computer savvy.

It’s an information war with government tech officials scrambling to create a single government controlled gateway to highten surveillance.

Even ”liking” an online message critical of the junta is a crime, punishable by a seven year jail sentence.

Arthit checks his mobile phone for updates on the crackdown on cyberactivity.

”Let’s check the most updated one: Oh! There’s an announcement, an order from the coup. Some more people were asked to report themselves . That number is 571. People who got arrested is 288.”

For activists working on Burma, Thailand has been a place of refuge.

But that’s changing since the coup says Britis Edman, Southeast Asia director for Human Rights Defenders, in Sweden.

”The coup in Thailand has a number of effects regionally. Of course being a democratic beacon in Southeast Asia it’s been a resource. Not only a resource for activists and human rights defenders from other countries being able to go to Thailand and work out of Thailand but also been inspired, and has moral support from the Thai peers. That may no longer be the case or no longer possible.”

The junta led by general Prayuth Chan-ocha is likely to push through legislation that will never allow Thailands majority to prevail over other power centers again.

They are also looking at changing the constitution to give themselves amnesty.

Britis Edman says there is a shockingly little attention about this from the west.

”The fact that there’s so little international pressure  on Thailand may make the junta’s peers regionally braver. So I think politically it may have a long-term serious impact.”

The military government seems most worried about social media, where they have the least direct control.

I asked the Thailand ambassador to Sweden Somchai Charanasomboom about the army telling Thai internet providers to block over 200 new websites.

”The people still have their expression through the media, but it’s the restriction of the media itself that they will not do harm to the public or the society, and so to themselves. Some limitations remain in place only for some outlets or programs that were in the past responsible for instigating violence and divisiveness.”

But the new government, or National Peace and Order Maintaining Council is also asking people to spy for them.

They are offered100 bath or 15 USDfor pictures or names of people they  suspect may be responsible for inappropriate behavior.

It’s the long-term effect of policies like this that is worrying net activist Arthit.

”We’re afraid that even if they leave office, the infrastructure they left, the constitution, the telecommunication resources they’ve allocated back to the military,  will be there for longer.”

• Thai
• Internet
• censorship
• Arthit Suriyawongkul
• Ric Wasserman