On Wednesday, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) stepped in to regulate about 50,000 drones in Thailand that must be registered within 90 days before they can be airborne. With immediate effect, Thailand's territory has become a no-fly zone for all kinds of unregistered drones. Some may not like it, but the registration is necessary. In fact, the NBTC must do more beyond registering drones.
The registration was previously undertaken by the Transport Ministry. The NBTC has taken over the job because drones are controlled by communication radio frequency, a matter under its jurisdiction.
According to the NBTC, registration can take place at any of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) or the NBTC headquarters and its 21 provincial offices. To facilitate the process for users, registration could also be undertaken at all police stations across the country.
The NBTC said that flying and controlling drones needs to comply with the existing regulation governing related conditions by the CAAT. Use of unregistered drones is subjective to imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 100,000 baht or both.
Among 50,000 drones, only 350 have been registered.
Soon after the announcement was made, the online society was abuzz with criticism of the moves of the NBTC to register the devices. The criticism was of how such registration is something that was not necessary and how these instruments were toys that cost nothing to purchase and such toys should not be subject to registration.
Many of the criticism may have some points but very few of these people who are taking on the social media to criticise the moves by the NBTC may know that most countries around the world have been asking for drone operators to register their devices.
Countries in the region such as China and some as far away as the United Kingdom and even the United States have all asked their drone users to register their devices. China and the UK have started to register their drones this year.
The US has had a policy to register drone users since 2015, although a court recently rejected the move for registration after a user challenged authorities in the court.
One thing in common among all these countries aiming to have the drones registered is the fact that drone users in most countries have not been on their best behaviour. There have been allegations of breach of privacy, causing accidents and, in some cases, drones being used to transport narcotic material.
To make matters worse, drones, balloons and unidentified flying objects have been blamed for 24 near mid-air collisions with aircraft in the UK.
Earlier this year, four drones piloted by amateurs intruded 200 times into the Chongqing airport in China, while a previous intrusion prompted authorities to ground 60 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
In Britain authorities have reported that as many as 3,500 cases of violation of rules for using drones were recorded in 2016 against 1,200 in 2015 and less than 300 in 2014.
It is these statistics that have prompted countries to move for compulsory registration of drones.
While many countries are enforcing registration, they are taking a step further by having the drone owners not only register their devices but also undergo a mandatory test and courses on how to pilot these flying objects. Free courses are being offered to those who are just beginning to own these "toys".
There are dos and don'ts about which the owners need to be aware before taking on playing with these instruments that can be used for both recreational purposes and for supplying goods and services.
In the case of Thailand, there are 49,650 unregistered drones operating and flying in the country. As nearly all the drones in this country have now been grounded, it may be the right time to look at offering more than just registration of these controversial devices.
What the NBTC needs to do is to make sure the drone pilots are well aware of the risk that goes with owning devices apart from their ability to handle these objects when airborne. They also need to be aware of the rules and regulations when operating these devices.
The NBTC should do more than just force the registration of the devices. It can take this as an opportunity to provide training on how to fly drones in compliance with rules and regulations to ensure public safety.
By undertaking such a move, the NBTC would be able to offer more than just filling out more paperwork that would not give any knowledge to the drone owners and instead just be a paper that could be used against the owner if the untaught laws are breached by the pilots.