Flashermac Posted May 29, 2014 Report Share Posted May 29, 2014 THE NATIONAL Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said yesterday that it had no policy to block social media, after there was brief chaos as Facebook faced technical failure at its Internet gateway. Facebook was not available for 37 minutes after 4pm, but the junta responded quickly by ordering the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to fix the problem at the gateway. "We had a meeting with Internet service providers [iSPs] and found some technical problems at the gateway. The error has been fixed and the service has resumed," NCPO spokesman Winthai Suvari said in a televised statement. Surachai Srisaracam, permanent secretary of the ICT Ministry, said the system had gone down because of overuse, but was unable to provide specific information about which gateways had failed. The ministry would meet with ISPs today to figure out the problem. Meanwhile, many users reacted furiously to the service breakdown, as many of them use Facebook not only for fun but also for work and political comment. "A 6.1-magnitude quake could not match the chaos when people could not access Facebook for 30 minutes," posted user Insee. @Hui_Nation, who runs a bakery business via Facebook, said her page was her shop. "I use Facebook to take orders and sell cakes. Why do you shut it down? I use it for earning," she posted. @EarthCDBD said: "God, are we in China or Thailand?" Election commissioner and Facebook addict Somchai Srisuthiyakorn posted a poem on his Facebook page shortly after the system resumed, saying that he was "dying" without Facebook. "A minute disappeared, Thought, I would never see the Face again," he posted. Social media and Web pages have been under close surveillance over the past week, as they are widely used by people to express their political views and sometimes make appointments for activities against the junta. Pheu Thai Party chief Charupong Ruangsuwan, who is resisting the junta's summons, has used his Facebook page to spread news and anti-coup messages. He posted days ago that he planned to fight back. The NCPO is also keeping an eye on social-media activities of former PM's Office minister Jakrapob Penkair, who has lived in exile abroad, and those of Charupong. Facebook is widely used in Thailand, with 28 million accounts currently, while Twitter, has 4.7 million accounts in the country. The junta earlier issued a warning to all Internet users, and social-media users in particular, to not post provocative messages or call on people to oppose the military. Facebook can be technically blocked by the authorities by disconnecting the link at the International Internet Gateway. However, ISPs contacted by The Nation yesterday said they had not received any instruction from the junta to block Facebook access. Winthai said the NCPO had blocked more than 100 websites believed to be spreading provocative information. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/No-policy-to-block-FB-30234896.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted May 29, 2014 Report Share Posted May 29, 2014 phew..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted May 29, 2014 Report Share Posted May 29, 2014 But surely blocking Facebook would be a good thing? No, not a good thing, a great thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coss Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 But then people would have to go back to talking to each other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted May 30, 2014 Report Share Posted May 30, 2014 You guys really do not realize that many many businesses have integrated Facebook in their business. Siam Commercial Bank for example. Try calling their helpdesk ... no response. Put a request for help on their facebook helpdesk and they call you in 10 minutes I found out. Many huge Thai companies use facebook for this or as their only website. Many Thai friends of mine have businesses selling clothing etc by mail order and their website is .... you guessed it! Facebook. Close facebook down and they loose their income. There are 10,000's of Thais whom earn their money through Facebook, Line etc. Close it down and boom they are jobless. That you guys think facebook is only about people chatting only shows you have never even looked at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Facebook has been down for hours now. I wonder what the story will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Facebook has been down for hours now. I wonder what the story will be. You sure about that? I have had friends posting on their pages regularly over the last couple of hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 HAs been working here to. No twitter panic. Guess it is local ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 It's back again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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