Thailand's Single Digital Gateway, Wednesday October 7, 2015

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• published: 12 Oct 2015
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The Thai government's proposed 'Single Gateway' has grabbed the country's attention unlike anything else these past few months. Routing all internet traffic through one single ' gateway ' holds potentially grave consequences for not only Thailand's internet privacy, but for internet speeds, E-commerce, banking - basically anything done online. But what exactly IS a 'Single Gateway' and what does it mean? The very concept of an all-seeing big brother has so frightened Thai Netizens that they staged a mass DDoS attack on government websites last week, prompting the police to warn that they would arrest anyone constantly hitting F5 for refresh! The government's response to the discovery of the orders to implement the Gateway have been scattered. We've heard everything from "its to make Thailand more competitive", to "General Prayuth was worried about Thai Youth accessing inappropriate content", to outright denial that the cabinet is even aware of the idea. What is a Single Gateway, and just how will it affect Thailand's ICT sector - end users and ISPs, telcos and carriers, and the country's status as a regional hub. Is this the government's grand 'digital economy' vision? Or will it be its undoing? We have a panel of distinguished speakers who can shed some light on all these issues. Prinya Hom-anek - A pioneer in the field of information security in the Asia-Pacific Region, Prinya Hom-anak has grown his consultancy ACIS into one of the leading information and security training consulting firms in Thailand. An advisor to the Thai Ministries of Justice, Defense and ICT on national cybersecurity issues, he also serves on several boards, including the (ISC)2 Asian Advisory Board, ISACA Thailand Committee, and the Thailand Information Security Association. Supinya Klangnarong - NBTC commissioner on the broadcasting subcommittee and free speech activist who made headlines when she was the first of many to be sued by Thaksin Shinawatra for defamation. Supinya describes herself as a free bird and has been fighting for deregulation of the broadcasting and telecoms industry all her life. Prasong Ruangsirikulchai - Senior Director, NTT Communications (Thailand) Co., Ltd and Executive Director of the Telecommunications Association of Thailand (under Royal Patronage) and will share an telecoms industry view of how carriers will be affected technically and commercially under the proposed Single Gateway programme. Yingcheep Atchanot - Project Manager of Internet Dialogue on Law Reform (iLaw). Currently monitoring and documenting the freedom of expression situation especially on lésè majesté and defamation cases including the cases related to online expression and electronic evidences. We also monitor laws and policies from the NCPO government and try to raise public awareness and civil participation.