Sunday, March 1, 2009

Protect the King

Due to the criticism the Thailand Monarchy has been receiving as of late in regards their ousting of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s Ministry of Information has now created an internet security center that coordinates the blocking of websites deemed offensive to the monarchy. They also developed a special website for people to go to in order to inform on those who criticize the monarchy.

The security center managed to block over 5000 websites within 24 hours of being created. These blockings were a result purely of being critical of the monarchy. Before this, websites were banned due to their use of pornography, the sale of sex equipment, and various threats to national security.

The Ministry’s new website, Protecttheking.net, is described as a means by which citizens can show loyalty to the king by protecting him from “misunderstandings” about him.

The creation of this website just shows how threatened the monarchy really is by the uprising of protestors, particularly for Shinawatra. According to the BBC News, this website is part of an effort to prevent any doubt in the future of the monarchy before it can gather momentum.

1 comment:

  1. I couldn't translate Thai but i loved the proclamation-scroll when the website loaded.

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