A dubious distinction | Bangkok Post: tech

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Because there isn't nearly enough control over the Internet, the cabinet approved setting up a new office to "prevent and suppress" anything on the Internet that is aimed at or might be aimed at the monarchy; with some help from Mr Orwell, the government decided the office should be called the Bureau of Prevention and Eradication of Computer Crime; Juti Krairiksh, the new MICT (Minister of Internet Censorship of Thailand) explained that any Internet provider who did not instantly comply with his "request" to block a website would lose its licence.

Media watchers FACT Thailand said that the number of blocked and blacklisted websites had passed 100,000, making Thailand the first country in the world to hit that goal; since April alone, said a FACT study, the Ministry of Internet Censorship of Thailand (MICT) and the emergency authorities have blocked 65,000 websites, bringing the total of blacklisted sites to 113,000 by June 15, with sites being added every day; the Orwellian Bureau of Prevention and Eradication of Computer Crime has added another layer of Net censoring, supposedly in the name of protecting the monarchy; one new tactic is to censor any site that mentions actual names such as former PM's office minister Jak***ob Pe***ir or the Marxist professor G***s Ung***orn - two of 200 such blacklisted names that are to be wiped from Thai memory like a Russian encyclopaedia on Josef Stalin.

RS Plc, the second biggest entertainment firm in Thailand, predicted it was on track for revenue growth of 33 percent to 2.9 billion baht this year, primarily thanks to the World Cup; the company lost no special events during the curfew, and expects to end up with an extra 700 million baht from the Cup, of which 100 million will be profit.

Horror in space, warned experts and politicians alike when they heard the government's plan to buy Thaicom from Temasek Holdings of Shingapore; the idea that the government knows anything about operating a satellite company is ludicrous, they said, and the very plan to try to buy Thaicom is proof; Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, who served as minister of information and communication technology minister for the military junta, pointed out that the company's satellite concession is quite possibly illegal, and the Council of State is considering the matter, something the government wasn't even aware of; and at the moment, Thaicom consists of almost nothing but the iPSTAR satellite, which does Internet for businesses and has nothing to do with national security; Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban explained that he needs Thaicom, because it is unacceptable for the world to see those nasty red shirt speeches; Thaicom chief executive Arak Cholatanond said satellite parking spots belong to Thailand no matter who actually owns the company formerly known as Shin satellite.

True Online, the broadband subsidiary of the Chicken People (CP), tested its version of "Internet Light" who want less than 100 hours online a month for 399 baht; the package is targeted mostly at dial-up modem users and mobile phone subscribers; it could prove expensive compared with a government service in the works to provide a slow-speed Internet service for 99 baht a month.

Back up everything in your mobile phone, offered the No 1 yuppiephone network Advanced Info Service; the new Smart Secure service uses GPRS/Edge speeds to put everything in your phone in a secure online locker, where you can get it back if you are, say, one of the 20,000 people who lose their phones every month.

SPM Farm in Ratchaburi province, which provides 25,000 pigs a month to the country's markets, installed solar panels on the roof of its breeding farm to heat the water needed to keep piglets alive; operator Somchai Nitikanchana said it would take three years to get back his entire investment of four million baht, after which he will virtually coin money by no longer paying for electricity to run heating lamps for piglets.

Natural Resource and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said the government will promote raw materials useful in making biomaterials, including lower import tariffs; example: Thailand is a major exporter of plastic bags, and it is currently more costly to make them of bioplastics because of the five percent tariff on bioplastic pellets.