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Using internet when affected by liquor or drugs


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Thai Govt attacks drunk driving on the Internet

BANGKOK: -- PM Dr Thaksin announced today a plan to make it illegal to use the Internet while affected by liquor or a drug, or to discuss sexually explicit matters on the Internet. The proposed bill will enable the Royal Thai Police to monitor internet traffic of those who use or abuse alcohol or drugs, Dr Thaksin said. The PM was confident that bill would be passed by the parliament and said ?There is too much immoral activity between teenagers that begins in an internet chat room." Adding that studies from the health ministry showed the rise in teenage pregnancies mirrored the average rise in internet use among teens in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Chonburi.

This bill follows several lately, passed by parliament to keep Thai society free from dark influences which threaten to change the culture. In recent weeks a clampdown has been ordered on high pressure water pistols as well as on advertising and promoting sexual enhancement products.

The Thai prime minister was quoted saying "I myself have forbidden my daughter last week to use the internet after she drank a glass of wine" but refused to elaborate further on the nature of her internet activities.

The internet cafe Community in Thailand fears a lack of income from beverage sales due to this measure. It's still not clear which products will be outlawed.

Carlsberg and TCC Group of Thailand, producers of the Chang brand have calculated this could lead to an overall downturn of sales if the new bill is implemented. The Company already received opposition from Buddhist monks last week, when they proposed to list their stocks on the SET exchange. This latest measure might put another damper on their move to the stock exchange and has forced the major brewer to consider an alcohol free version of its popular beer to maintain profits.

Internet usage has already been restricted by the Thai Internet Police to prevent youths from looking at sexual content. In this latest measure they will be aided by a software company from Nonthaburi Software Park, who has developed an "Internet logger" which logs all requests within Thailand. This system is unique in the world and has been developed in cooperation with Shincorp their main shareholder.

Ngo's have complained already by the flagrant disregard for human rights, that this "Thai Big Brother" system represents.

The PM dismissed opposition taunts that the cost would be excessive, saying he plans to use money raised from a special ?lottery? to fund the project and would also direct funds away from the controversial ?Elite card? system to help implement this within the next 3 months.

Civil liberties groups say they will challenge the law in constitutional court. "The prime minister is trying to use this issue to distract people from his poor handling of the economy this year." said Somchai Chaiwannakhup, of the Thai Law Foundation.

--Agencies 2005-04-01

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When you put this logging system in place its threaten all peoples privacy that are communicating with Thai people. For me this kind of over all controlling system is like living under a communism system. :evil:

I wonder if Thai people really understand what kind of impact this will have on there own free communication on Internet. Do they really want to be controlled of their government like this? :shock:

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