Are we living in the past: The Thai 3G

First thing first, I'm not an expert in technology. I'm just a regular Thai citizen who's hoping for the best for Thailand.


The 3G has become an epic and upset a lot of people that hoping to see some constructive structure of the "happening 3G" which has never quite happened yet. The question everyone keep asking what make it taking so long for this country to get 3G available for the rest of the country, commercially, beside the trial that some parts of Bangkok is providing.


The NTC (National Telecommunication Commission) has a fully right to organize the bidding all along before the Constitution 2007, and no one ever understand what make them drag and wait until it's out of their righteous time. The Constitution 2007 said to have (NBTC) National Broadcasting and Telecom Commission as a new regulator for frequency allocation in Thailand. Three years pass, the new commission has not come together and finally NTC move forward on the 3G bidding. NTC suppose to, at the time being, act as an Acting Regulatory body, but whether an acting body has a right to proceed with the bidding or not will have to wait for the Administrative court decision.


There is a naive part of me hope that CAT and TOT might just drop their complaint but I see no reason why they would do such a thing. But the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand had made an assessment in 2009 of what TOT and CAT might gain to lost if all 2G users switch to 3G in 2 years. Both organization might loss 70% of their revenue. So there you have it, a pretty good reason for them to not giving up.


I just wonder why CAT and TOT had to make a complaint to the court when the bidding process has started. The question of why they have to file the suit is answered by Paisal Sricharatchanya, the TANN analyst that they just have to do anyway otherwise they might end up accused to negligence of duty themselves (if we are not talking Money-reason). But why wait until the last minute, who knows.


If some of you can remember, Prime Minister Abhisit and Finance Minister Korn had said whether it'll be more benefit to the country is it's  to be licensed without bidding. I do agree on that. If just licenses to be given out to any one with fees, it does not need to be a big media organization to has it. It does not need the wider the margin so it can cover whatever the company has to pay government. At the end of the day, if he service provider got their licenses through bidding, the just going to add it up to whatever the end customer have to pay, and yes, the customer which is you and me have to shoulder that cost.


So, Hi-Tech enthusiasts... don't hold your breath... it will be a super long one and you might even need a respirator for that.


Here is what I got from Wikipedia. We are one of the countries that 3G is available... but yes, what is the point of having it available but cannot make a use out of it.

And here is what I found on one service provider website, it's just their way of advertising themselves. But I found it painfully true. Are we living in the Past.

And just to add more spice to the how behind we are, here is what I found on internet

•May 2001 first pre-commercial 3G network was launched in Japan

•March 2003 fully commercial in Europe (UK, Italy)

•2004 Commercially used in Africa

•December 2007, 344 networks were operating in 111 countries

•launched commercially on February 2007 in Iraq

•launched in China, North Korea and India in 2008

More reading on the case

from The Nation: Finance Minister Korn warns of danger if 3G auction goes ahead

from Bangkok Post: Thailand falling further behind

from Asia Correspondent: Thai telecom law & the 3G debacle

The Sound from the South

It all started when I was not in this country...How it get sparked, who's the mastermind of all these evil events. It has been almost 7 years and not any authorities, any government, any administration got an answer for us. It is Amazing how almost 7 years gone by and nothing better.


SOE(State of Emergency) has been declared so long ago that we totally forget. PM Abhisit said at one point he doesn't want SOE imposed in Bangkok for too long until authority lean on it too much. How About our home in the South, have the authorities been leaning on SOE too much, too long? How much more innocent lives we have to lost? Latest event, drive-by shooting that killed a teacher couple, leave 3 offsprings behind. Has it wake any big guy up?


Here's the statistic number for teachers and students only since January 2004; 327 schools burnt down with 135 teachers killed, 122 teachers injured, 36 students killed and 158 students injured.


This is not include the lives of Soldiers, police officers and volunteers. The number believed to be around 4200 people killed so far, and that just as recorded.


This is what believed to be the starter:
January 4, 2004 under Thaksin's administration, 20 schools was burned down at the same time in Narathiwat province. The incident believed to be created to distract the arm robbery at Army camp. 400 rifles, 20 handguns and 2 machine guns were stolen with 4 soldiers killed.


March 12, 2004, Somchai Neelapaijit, the renown lawyer that chaired Muslim law association at that time was abducted and never been found...until today.


April with GrueSae case, 114 killed. October same year with TakBai case, another 82 lives lost. It's go on and on and on...


And it's not going to stop.


I ask the political analyst at my Channel, TAN network, Khun Paisal Sricharatchunya, why teachers, why monks. Who we think is behind these horrific incidents? What would come to sense at all, what is all these for?


Teachers and Monks are targeted because they are symbols of Buddhism in the communities. 
The mastermind behind all this believed to be the separatist group, the extremist that wants to separate 3 Southern provinces, that majority of population is Muslim, from the rest of the country. Most people believed these insurgents funded by Al-Qaeda, or Taliban, some international organization.


If you search in internet, they call it "War". Thai government is in war with various groups, PULO, BNP, Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani(BIPP), Gorakan Mujahideen Islam Patani(GMIP), Jama ah Islamiya(JI) and probably etc.


Now you would want to know whether Thai citizens in those 3 provinces want to be separated from the rest of country. They don't and they live in fear. And they are not moving away, because it is there home town.


There is still news of Bomb and drive-by shooting to be heard almost every day. You would never get use to it, nobody would. And I hope the government wouldn't and come up with something, something that would really make it better, for the sake of our brothers and sisters in the south.


They had done nothing wrong and no one deserve this.

Focus Analysis on TAN network: The escalating violence in The South of Thailand
)it's over 18 minutes long, so I have to cut it in 2 parts)

Pedophile and Child Molester...sadly did come in teacher role

On Friday, September 3rd, 2010, I just went along my usual routine life as an anchor, read the news. But that afternoon was a little unusual. Yes, there are always extensive amount of news that just bring you down, make you depress. There are always more than 75% of news presented are bad news rather than positive. But this afternoon is different, 2 news in one article, all from the south, all involved "teacher" and students.


Here's the first one : Police have charged the deputy director of Surat Thani's Kanjanadit Wittayakom School with child sexual abuse after being alleged of luring a Grade 11 student and allowing a fellow teacher to also sexually abuse her. 

The victim has been hospitalized and released after treated for stress and trauma for the last three days at Kanjanadit Hospital .

The suspects were summoned, the school's Deputy Director Manachanoke Nam-mu and teacher Kamron Sakda, charged with child molestation. However, the two have denied the charges.

And here's another one:Nakhon Si Thammarat, Parents and guardians of 21 victims has filed complaint at Cha-Ouad (ชะอวด) police station against the two teachers, Wirat Wuttipong and Boonme Jeenchaona of Baan Tung Po(บ้านทุ่งโป๊ะ) School. After questioning the 21 female primary students, police charged the 2 teachers with rape and the sexual abuse of minors. 

The Baan Tung Po School Director Tin Suknual (ตฤณ สุขนวล) told the press that the local Primary Education Office has issued an order for the relocation of the two teachers and initiated an disciplinary investigation on them.

Yes, that's all the school can do, set up a probe and relocate them. I don't get it, relocate them to somewhere so they can hurt more children. One of the suspect has done this before and somehow, lobbied someone powerful enough to just transferred him to new school. It is the most vicious act one can do to provide more opportunity for a pedophile to hurts and destroy more life.

Yes, I do believe in giving people a second chance. But in some circumstances, like this case, I considered him sick and needed to be treated before getting any more chances.

Being a teacher, means being a person that guide the way or shed the light to better or at least decent life, not destroy one.

JUNO BILL :The legal right for student to take Maternal leave

Controversial draft law on pregnant students being allowed maternal leave, later study draws concern

The Nation

Published on July 13, 2010

A draft law that intends to give pregnant students the legal right to take maternal leave and continue their studies after giving birth, is now attracting much controversy.

While a survey on www.ilaw.or.thshowed most respondents supported the draft law, prominent child-rights activist Wallop Tangkananurak said he was concerned the legislation would indirectly endorse school-age pregnancies.

"I agree that schools should not fire students just for being pregnant. However, having a clear law on the issue may indirectly convince youth that it is okay to get pregnant during their school years," Wallop said in www.gotoknow.org. 

He said he planned to raise the issue at the National Children Protection Committee meeting soon. He explained that although it was good to give youth more freedom, it could be better to rely on subtle measures.

Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said there was much discussion about Article 12 in the draft, over whether directors of educational institutions with pregnant female students should allow the women to continue studying during their pregnancy and after giving birth.

Jurin said many prominent public health officers worried the law would encourage teen pregnancy. Others said it would open the way for pregnant students to have both maternal leave and continue their studies after giving birth, instead of losing their positions. He was not sure that firing pregnant students was beneficial - their numbers had not decreased during the past few years.

The Department of Health records showed that each year in Thailand, 10,000 students under 15 years of age become pregnant. Of 800,000 women who get pregnant annually, 20 per cent are under 20 years.

Reproductive Health Division chief Dr Kittipong Saejeng, secretary of a subcommittee to develop reproductive health law and regulation, said the subcommittee would organise a meeting to revise this draft. After that the subcommittee would hold public hearings for two months before making submissions to the National Reproductive Health Committee, chaired by the Public Health Minister, and then to Cabinet. 

Jurin said the law would protect people's reproductive health rights. It would also cover the medical services of all state and private medical units and oblige them to provide consultation and reproductive health services. 

The law will not allow any individual or organisation to block maternal leave, will encourage breastfeeding and safeguard against sexual harassment. It would encourage support for pregnant women, those with unwanted pregnancies and those who were not in a position to take care of their kids.

Here's the response from The Nation's Tulsathit > If it was your daughter, she'd get a second chance

Response from my friend, Diana, who's been living in Thailand for years > http://oldskoolnet.com/the-juno-bill

And here's my View and my friends' opinion on this issue

Sexual harassment regulations for civil servants

The Cabinet just pass the proposal by The Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) on draft of legislation to the Cabinet today to try to prevent sexual harassment at state offices.

Regulations to be issued under the Civil Service Act 2008 covered five types of behaviour deemed to be sexual harassment in the workplace.

1) sexual or physical contact, such as kissing, holding or touching certain parts of the body.

2) sexualised talk, such as criticising or joking about body parts and telling dirty jokes to an unwilling audience.

3) sexual gestures, such as looking at others in a "sexual" manner.

4) communication with sexual content such as sending letters, messages or e-mails with pornographic content.

5) other actions deemed sexual and disturbing to others.

The regulations would cover state officials and people assisting the civil service, 381,000 state officials at 19 ministries and the offices of provincial governor offices nationwide. People "damaged" by such behaviour could file a complaint to supervisors, who would be authorised to assign officials via verbal or written orders. If complaints were considered to have grounds, a disciplinary committee would be set up to find out facts for judgement and determine appropriate punishment.

But the regulations would not cover teachers, educational personnel, university staff, members of the Army, police officials or judges.

The OCSC would publish handbooks for distribution to civil servants once the rules were approved.

The idea of this regulation was proposed once during Thaksin Shinnawatra administration. But the, then prime minister, afraid this regulation would just exaggerate the small issue. So, the proposal was swept under the table.

info from The Nation

What do I think about this