Never has the Internet, or rather computer networking in general, ever
been so
threatened in Thailand as it is now. The kingdom can forget about being
a
multimedia hub if the state telephone enterprises' one-two punch hits
home.
Internet users in Thailand
have already been battered by the high access costs
imposed by the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT). Now that
the CAT is
finally considering lowering its fees, the Telephone Organization of
Thailand
(TOT) is planning to deliver a knockout blow: they want to charge for
local
calls by the minute.
Currently the TOT charges
a fixed rate of Bt3 for each local phone call, as
opposed to the US, for instance, where customers pay a fixed montly
rate for
local telephone service. But this is still not enough for the TOT,
which is now
seeking permission to charge at a rate of Bt1 per minute for local
calls.
Even if that exorbitant figure
is reduced, a time-metred rate would make it
prohibitively expensive to surf the Net via telephone. We home users
_whom I
would guess make up the majority of Internet users _ would either have
to
severely curtail our networking activities, or give them up altogether.
There is no need to explain
here about who will benefit from this scheme, nor
about the dire effect it will have on Thailand's future. You can read
the
business pages or the computer sections to find that out. The point
is, now is
the time for anyone who cares to speak out, LOUDLY!
The one positive side effect
of this move could be that it has started to wake
up Internet users and other support groups. Some users are already
discussing
holding a protest, while reporters who cover the computer beat are
considering
forming an IT Reporters Association to help gain better access to the
people who
are making the decisions.
With all the commotion, it's
time to examine how the Internet is developing
here. For a brief, represenative look, I checked out the web site of
Internet
Thailand Service, a semi-governmental joint venture firm which was
one of the
kingdom's first commercial internet service providers.
The INET page at http://www.inet.co.th/
has some minor problems. It needs an
editor to correct some typos and grammatical mistakes. And while its
graphics
are nice, they make it awfully slow to download the website.
But INET does offer some
useful services. It's got a search engine for Thailand
WWW sites, and provides server space for about a dozen (so far) non-profit
organizations. It also has a Cybermall where companies and organisations
can
rent out space for a fee. Entering from the INET page can, again, be
slow, as
you have to go through a pretty but useless introductory page, so you're
better
off going direct to http://www.inet.co.th/mall.html/.
A wide variety of businesses
are represented in the cybermall:
finance, courier services, cosmetics, health, computers and Internet
services, industry,
import and export, hotels and travel, job opportunities, real estate,
publishers and
telecommunications. While I didn't look into all of them, I did like
the
graphics on the website for Sea Canoe _ a kayaking tour company based
in
southern Thailand _ at http://www.seacanoe.com/
.
There are also some non-corporate
advertisers. The Dhammakaya
Institute of Buddhist Studies, representing a popular Buddhist sect
which ``sees no
contradiction' in using modern media techniques to reach its faithful,
has a website at http://www.inet.co.th/dhamakaya/index.html.
Offered for sale _ under
a graphic showing Ashoka's wheel of dharma merging into a compact disk
_
are CD versions of the Tripitaka in both English and Pali. Containing
53 volumes, 5,000
pages and 30 million characters, it is ``believed to be the largest
piece of
computer information ever manually computerized'. Apparently, it took
over a decade to produce.
The military is also represented
in the Cybermall: Army TV Channel 5 has a site
at http://www.tv5.co.th/, as does
the Royal Thai Navy at
http://www.inet.co.th/cybermall/RTN/project.html,
which describes various
projects being carried out to honour His Majesty the King's Golden
Jubilee.
Under the ``political stage',
Bangkok Governor Bhichit Rattakul's website is
still listed but can no longer be found _ perhaps it was no longer
necessary
after the election?. I wish I could have read the Palang Dharma Party's
website
at but it's mostly in Thai and I didn't have the right font.
INET, of course, forms only
a small part of Thailand's progress on the Net.
What a pity if the new phone rates halt such development in its tracks.
Have any suggestions? Complaints? Picks? Pans? Utterly random thoughts
you'd like to share? Please send e-mail to jfahn@nation.nationgroup.com