“Children are a precious asset to our country and we have to protect them,” said acting ICT Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul in a recent interview with Business Day newspaper.

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) is waging a war against what it deems to be inappropriate online material for the sake of the children of Thailand. The internet has become the primary source of information gathering in the world today. The power of the internet lies in the accessible abundance of information that is open to anyone with internet access, be it at home, at work or in one of the many internet cafes dotted around Bangkok. Whilst nobody could argue against the fact that children can be at harm from the internet, who gives the MICT the right to choose what can and cannot be viewed by everyone?

Outcry from the general public has done nothing to deter the efforts of the MICT crusaders, who are hell-bent on making the internet a safe haven for the easily corruptible. Sites relating to pedophilia, beastiality, torture and so on, are one issue, but the number of sites being blocked by the MICT is becoming ridiculous. “We are meant to be living in a democratic country,” said Jon, 48, a journalist from New Zealand. “Who are these people that are deciding what internet sites I can and cannot use?”

‘These people’ are a group of ten agencies controlled and coordinated by the MICT. Trawling the web for offensive material, they effectively deny the people living in Thailand the right to make up their own minds.

The futile attempts of acting for the benefit of children are made redundant by file sharing programs, such as Limewire, proxy servers that allow access to any website and the exponential expansion of the internet itself, proving that it is an entity that cannot be controlled.

As well as websites containing “private parts,” some political websites and “websites that violate norms and cultures” are also being banned.

This is the gray area that has caused the most controversy. There are many ways in which “websites that violate norms and cultures” could be interpreted. It effectively gives the MICT free reign to close websites down, such as when Anchalee Paireerak’s community website (www.fm9525.com) and radio station were shut down. The Bangkok Post reported on July 5 that the station and website had been removed by the MICT because they endangered “the country’s unity and security.”

Perhaps now the true agenda of the MICT becomes visible.

Anchalee, 41, told the Bangkok Post that she had been the victim of constant harassment because she was “consistently critical of the government.”

Go back to bed Thailand. You are free to do as we tell you

The freedom of expression that democracy thrives upon is lost in Thailand beneath conceited ideals. The message being sent out by the government and the MICT is that free speech is allowed, but only if it fits certain criteria.

The MICT had previously only been used to shut down sites of a pornographic nature or sites that were a threat to national security, as the Bangkok Post reported. Now the MICT has effectively become a political weapon.

The actions of the MICT run beyond internet censorship and reflect something of the political turmoil Thailand has found itself trapped within. To an outsider, the situation is nothing short of farcical. If a journalist such as Anchalee, with 19 years experience, is not allowed some freedom of expression without fear of receiving serious threats ordering her to leave the country, then the media effectively loses all relevance for the people of Thailand. Anchalee now resides in Australia.

Thailand has a wonderful monarchal system that unites and inspires the people living in the country to better themselves. There are few other places in the world where the monarchy can instill such positive feeling within the general public. The political system, on the other hand, is completely the opposite. Scare tactics are enforced whereby journalists are now paranoid to speak out against the government for fear of being sued.

In August of last year a lawsuit was filed against the Bangkok Post by two state-owned firms claiming that a front page story, written about Suvarnabhumhi airport, was damaging to Thailand, as reported by the Bangkok Post itself.

This was a blatant attempt at restricting the sharing of information with the people of Thailand. It had nothing to do with truth, and came down to the political agenda of the present acting prime minister and his caretaker government.

In 2005, the editors of the Had Yai Post and the Pattaya Post were both murdered, allegedly, for their journalistic work. Saetang, the editor of the Had Yai Post, had previously been very outspoken against local politicians, whilst Santi Lamaneenil, editor of the Pattaya Post, had been reporting on illegal operations in late-night entertainment venues.

The work of a journalist in Thailand does not come without its own risks.

We don’t need no education

The sheer magnitude of the MICT’s operation must lie deeper than wanting to protect future generations. The vast amounts of money being wasted could be put into the diminishing educational system (far behind the likes of Cambodia and Vietnam), used to combat poverty and aid the slums of Bangkok, or put into rescuing the much talked about Suvarnabhumhi airport (which is itself immersed in rumours that have circulated about cost cutting and safety issues).

“A friend of mine has a ten-year-old son,” Jon, from New Zealand, continued. “His son was showing him ways to access porn sites.” Herein lies the problem: children are technologically adept enough to be able to see through the barriers of the MICT’s censorship. If the MICT genuinely wants to protect what children see, then perhaps their efforts should be put into helping the large number of children seen in areas such as Patpong and Nana.

Speaking out against the efforts of the MICT is not to advocate porn, but it is to stand up for freedom in a country that, at the moment, seems to be moving backwards. In reality, it would appear that the censoring of websites has nothing to do with protecting children, but is rather an attempt at imposing further control on the people of Thailand.

In his interview with Business Day newspaper, Suchai Charoenratanakul had the audacity to say that “Thailand is a free country … but illegal websites won’t be allowed in.” This does not sound like an initiative in a free country, especially given the apparent problems that have reportedly occurred with determining just what an “illegal website” actually constitutes.

If parents want to enforce internet restrictions over their children then so be it. It should be their decision, and not the decision of a group of people acting in a false and conceited manner.

Judith, 39, a Dutch national living in Pattaya said “It is a bad to censor sites. It is like deliberately keeping the children ignorant, and I don’t believe it is a good thing for Thailand, especially if they want to keep up with the rest of the world. Thailand is already quite behind on certain issues, why make it worse by censoring sites? And the fact is that children can get the info on other sites if they wish.”

Judith, mother of Jimmy, who is three-years-old, also said that “if my son was old enough to understand, I would be angry about censoring political sites, because he should be able to make up his own mind which party to support and get info about the political situation. In general, I think censorship of sites makes people even more curious and they will find other ways to find out info.”

If Thailand is to ever become a truly free, democratic state, then steps must be taken to allow for the free sharing of information so as not to make the people living in the country oblivious of the truth.

On December 20 2002, the Bangkok Post reported that Information and Communications Minister Surapong Suebwonglee had called in 18 internet service providers to discuss ways to prevent internet users from accessing pornographic websites. Each of the ISPs was told that failing to cooperate would result in their ISP licenses being revoked.

The MICT’s initial actions were masked underneath an attack on pornography, apparently oblivious to the multi-million baht industry operating outside of the internet in the form of DVD sales and suchlike.

The MICT’s initial operation was set up to “clean up” the internet; an impossible task. Most ISPs have supported the principle of making the internet “green” for all users, but have said that practically it is impossible, as the Bangkok Post reported. If the internet service providers themselves are saying that it is an impossible task then it seems like a waste of public time and money for the MICT to continue their crackdown on internet freedom.

Here’s Academy Fantasia. Go back to bed Thailand

Internet discussion forums, such as www.Thaivisa.com, are also placed in precarious situations, as free flowing discussion is now stunted for fear of the website being targeted by the MICT. As users air their views about internet censorship, some care must now be taken in what is written, as discussing solutions to the problem (proxy servers, and so on) are no longer allowed. A number of gay websites have also been targeted, to much outrage within gay communities.

What is effectively happening is that users of the internet are now being forced to adopt an altogether more paranoid ideology. One user of www.Thaivisa.com said that the government had taken “an enormous step in restricting the public’s access to information…without any legal basis at all” The internet is being censored without any legal framework.

Where is it stated in the law that internet dating, proxy server and political (the list is endless) websites are illegal? Furthermore, why are the people of Thailand not outraged by this violation of human rights that is making Thailand feel more like China every day?

In a recent internet discussion on a UK based website, users were outspoken against the idea of internet censorship. “I think parents should inform children of the truth rather than shielding them from it,” said one user. Another user commented that “censorship of information is one step on the dangerous road to dictating the people.”

The Thai government has previously eradicated drugs, prostitution and corruption on all levels and in all places in Thailand. On the surface, this is commendable, and yet below the thin veil of truth and decency lies Thailand in all its glory.

“The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thailand’s caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s continuing use of criminal defamation charges to silence critical media outlets,” read the first paragraph of a report on www.cpj.org The question people are beginning to ask now is ‘when will it stop?’