The Thai government has introduced their plans to monitor the movements and whereabouts of every foreigner in the country – a new ‘special’ SIM card will be installed in every foreign national’s mobile phone, tracking every step they take.
The Secretary General of the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, Takorn Tantasith, said the plan to implement the requirements for all foreign nationals is currently being reviewed after the national telecom regulator announced the proposal last week.
Sources say the new requirements will be put into motion in the next six months, creating a Nazi type state dictating an overall rule that every foreigner is in fact a criminal.
Takron said the plan would not only involve tourists, but would include everyone who does not have a Thai passport.
Resident ‘aliens’ on long-term visas for employment, marriage and/or retirement would not be exempt from the new rule.
“We will separate SIM cards from foreigners and Thais.” Takorn said on Monday.
“The location will always be turned on in this SIM card for foreigners – and it cannot be turned off,” added Takorn.
Sources say that a new law is about to be approved in Malaysia and Singapore mimicking that of Thailand. Recently a major meeting of ten large telco regulators from ten different countries brought together the idea – that meeting will have adverse effects on the entire Asian region.
Though none of the ten telcos involved in the meeting were identified, no doubt the Philippines will be the next contender to enact a similar law as the country is attempting to make SIM registry a formal rule over its citizens.
But will new SIM rules enact the same type of tracking regulations for foreigners within the Philippines? Under President Rodrigo Duterte’s new drug and crime cleansing dictatorship, the new SIM application likely will be coming to the Philippines in the near future.
Currently Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia all have registered SIM card laws – none of the three have set up a ‘tracking system,’ but sources say that will soon change.
Takron said the move is being made to maintain national security and to tackle trans-border crime.
“Tourists who use SIM cards from their own home countries and roaming services are not required to share their location. Instead they would receive a tracking-enabled SIM card if they want, which they can obtain from a Thai service provider by showing their passports,” Takron added.
Sources touched on privacy issues involving the tracking devices – Takron noted “rights and privacy issues relating to the system were not a matter of concern as it was similar to asking foreigners to provide their residential addresses in immigration documents.”
“We would just facilitate the police. So they could more easily track foreigners who enter the country and commit crimes,” he added.
Takron finalized to reports that “The function is not in SIMS cards for Thais, because we can always easily track them.” – he then added, “The system would not be abused, as police will [be] required [to obtain] a court order to track the foreigners if the need arises.”
Comments are closed.