Tech
Internet censorship in Thailand and waiting for w3.mict.go.th
Internet censorship is nothing new in Thailand, but lately it has gone from bad to worse. Many of you probably wonder why Internet is so slow and unreliable in Thailand, resulting in a lot of request ending on a blank page or truncated content. This not only because of poor infrastructure. Just look at the bottom of your screen and get the answer : waiting for w3.mict.go.th….
Internet censorship is nothing new in Thailand, but lately it has gone from bad to worse. Many of you probably wonder why Internet is so slow and unreliable in Thailand, resulting in a lot of request ending on a blank page or truncated content. This is not only because of poor infrastructure. Just look at the bottom of your screen and get the answer : waiting for w3.mict.go.th….
This is the address of the Ministry of Information and Technology of Thailand…..Instead of investing money for a better internet, Thailand is investing a lot of money in worst and slower Internet by putting a filter on every connection from inside Thailand, using the so called “war room”, a huge tech center in Bangkok suburbs specially equipped for filtering and censorship.
Slow connection in Thailand? Don’t blame your ISP, look a the bottom to find the culprit…
Technicians in the war room have blocked 70,000 Internet pages over the past four years, and the vast majority — about 60,000 — were banned for insults to the monarchy, according to Mr. Surachai. (Most of the other pages were blocked for pornography.)
Thus even you are not browsing pornography or dodgy content, your request has to go through “The ministry” filter for approval and checking that it is not on the banned list.
A survey of Ponemon Institute’s Second Annual Cost of Cyber Crime Study (2011) recently stated that one-third (32 percent) of executives say their country’s economy relies on cyber infrastructure to an overwhelming extent.
A further 54 percent say cyber infrastructure is at least of equal importance to their country’s growth as other factors. When executives were asked the same question with respect to the economic growth of their organizations, 41 percent of respondents said they considered cyber infrastructure more important to their organization’s growth than other factors, and 48 percent considered it of equal importance.
Therefore, Thailand censorship by deliberately slowing Internet and crippling the country digital infrastructure is a huge drawback to be considered by foreign investors.
Myanmar
Digital Revolution and Repression in Myanmar and Thailand
Activists have also proactively published social media content in multiple languages using the hashtags #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar and #WhatsHappeningInThailand to boost coverage of events on the ground.
By Karen Lee
Following the February 1 coup, Myanmar’s netizens became the latest to join the #MilkTeaAlliance, an online collective of pro-democracy youth across Asia.
(more…)
– The rise has been driven by OPEC+ production cuts and an improving economic climate
– Higher prices are likely to support a rebound in oil-producing emerging markets
– Further virus outbreaks or increased production would pose challenges to price stability
A combination of continued production cuts and an increase in economic activity has prompted oil prices to return to pre-pandemic levels – a factor that will be crucial to the recovery of major oil-producing countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Brent crude prices rose above $60 a barrel in early February, the first time they had exceeded pre-Covid-19 values. They have since continued to rise, going above $66 a barrel on February 24.
The ongoing increase in oil prices, which have soared by 75% since November and around 26% since the beginning of the year, marks a dramatic change from last year.
Following the closure of many national borders and the implementation of travel-related restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, demand for oil slumped globally.
In the wake of the Saudi-Russia price war in early 2020, Brent crude prices fell from around $60 a barrel in February that year to two-decade lows of $20 a barrel in late April, as supply increased and demand plummeted. The value of WTI crude – the main benchmark for oil in the US – fell to record lows of around $40 a barrel last year on the back of a lack of storage space.
While global demand for oil remains low, one factor credited with reversing the trend is the decision to make significant cuts to oil production, which subsequently tightened global supplies.
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