Thai Prison Websites

[Baton Rouge]

http://www.thaiprisonlife.com/

My guess is that it is better to read something like this than say that Warren Fellows book. It has always seemed to me that such accounts occasionally sensationalize as a means to sell more books. In this case, I imagine that both Gor and the authorities see the construction of this site as therapeutic.

Message from the editor: These blogs about life in a Thai prison will be updated at regular intervals over the coming months. There have been many books written by foreigners serving in Thai prisons. They talk about sadistic guards, daily beatings and rampant drug use. Some people claim that many of these accounts have been exaggerated in order to sell more books. Although this might be partly true, we still wouldn't want anyone to go through this experience. The blogs on this website are a true and unbiased account of life in a Thai prison. Nothing has been exaggerated. No stories have been made up in order to dramatize the experience. These blogs are also the only account in English from the viewpoint of a Thai prisoner.

[Baton Rouge]

http://www.thaidrugaddict.com/

There's also this one that I've only just found out about. I have a few doubts about the merits of sites like this, but on the other hand ......

[The Enforcer!]

There is some more about Gor from his teacher on the 'Paknam Forts' thread under Thai History.

I used to read his site (www.thailandlife.com) many years ago.

The Enforcer!

[FarangBha]

Gor seems to have been through it all. From a young kid bridging the digital divide he got caught up in the real life trauma's of an un-rich thai teenager. I never read anything in full, but he seems to have a lot of talent, and like many of us, sways to temptation.

[Richard Barrow]

There is a website about the life of Steve Wilcox in Bangkwang Prison. He is still there at the moment and sends letters out to a friend who posts them on his website:

http://www.steveatbangkwang.bravehost.com/

The content is often controversial and very negative towards Thai prisons. This is in contrast to our own website for Samut Prakan Central Prison. However, Bang Kwang is a maximum security prison and you cannot really compare.

I spoke to Ron earlier on this subject because I found this website to be blocked. I don't get the police message. It just times out. Much in the same way it did when they tried to block youtube.com in the early days. It is at bravenet and other site there open with no problem. The reason I believe it is being blocked is that when I use a proxy (at present it is legal to talk about this) I can open his site in seconds. A couple of weeks ago I could open the site again. However, I just checked five minutes ago and it seems blocked again.

Ron said the website opened fine with him. Other people in Thailand said the same. So far only a few people have reported problems. I use CS Loxinfo so it could be just them. They seem to bend over backward sometimes to help the junta. I also contacted Steve Wilcox and he said other people in Thailand have also reported the same problem.

So, do other people have problems opening the site? If so, can you report which internet provider you use. Also, asking the experts here, do you reckon this site is being blocked in a clandestine manner and if so, is there a way to confirm this?

[jpatokal]

It's working just fine from here in Singapore. You could try running a traceroute to see where the packets stop.

[FarangBha]

fine using TT&T in N. Thailand

[FarangBha]

Can you give us a quick summary of what this guy did or did not do? And wouldn't having a public blog stuff up his chances??

[Bernie]

I've checked it four times since Richard's original post. It is working as it should from the USA, even when using proxies.

Bernie

[Richard Barrow]

Can you give us a quick summary of what this guy did or did not do? And wouldn't having a public blog stuff up his chances??

I am not that familiar with the case other than knowing it was drug possession with intent to sell as he got more than 30 years. I agree it is risky for him to write about it while still in prison, but maybe he thinks he has nothing to lose. I think later this year he will have a chance to complete his sentence in the UK.

I've checked it four times since Richard's original post. It is working as it should from the USA, even when using proxies.
Bernie

If it is being blocked by the Thai government then people outside Thailand wouldn't have a problem. I know it is not my computer as I have the same problem at home and work. The common factor is CSLoxinfo. I think I will ring them tomorrow and see if they can explain why this one website won't open. But, when I connect with True it does.

[The Enforcer!]

Works from UK.

As an aside, how is Gor doing? Any amnesity?

The Enforcer!

[Richard Barrow]

Works from UK.

As an aside, how is Gor doing? Any amnesity?

The Enforcer!

He is doing well. Thanks for asking. He is getting a fair amount of support with people writing and visiting. I took a well-known Thai author this morning to go and see him. It is nice that he gets support from both the Thai and international community. Gor is still on appeal for the length of his sentence. He has been waiting since September. The problem at the moment is that there are high expectations that there will be a royal pardon at the end of the year for the King's birthday. These are either a full pardon or a reduction in sentence. However, it is only available to people whose cases have been closed. Gor has to make a decision soon as to whether to withdraw his appeal and hope that there will be a pardon at the end of the year. A bit of a gamble. As you can imagine, this is all the prisoners are talking about at the moment.

[Richard Barrow]

Regarding the original quest, I rang Loxinfo the other day to ask about this prison web site. They tried and then admitted that they too couldn't open this website. I said that we could open with an anonymous proxy straight away and also if we use another Internet provider such as True. He said he would investigate. Anyway, yesterday I noticed that we can now again open that website in question. It looked like they had sorted out the problem. Then this morning, I got a phone call from another guy at Loxinfo to answer our original query. He said that this website is on their list of websites to be blocked which was sent to them by the ICT. I asked how come I can now access the website. He replied that he didn't know why.

[The Enforcer!]

we could open with an anonymous proxy straight away
Isn't this an offence under the new Cyber Crime Act 2550?

The Enforcer!

[FarangBha]

can you appeal this blocking?

could be time to start an online petition.

And: why would they block that site and not this one?

[Richard Barrow]

Isn't this an offence under the new Cyber Crime Act 2550?

The Enforcer!

I don't think the law has actually passed yet. I don't believe it has appeared in the Royal Gazette yet. Of course, once it does become law, I will deny having any knowledge of the methods needed to open blocked websites. (If they are willing to believe that, then I will believe them when they say that they have only blocked 30 websites since the coup.)

[FarangBha]

I've just re=installed windows, and would be keen to know the best method for bypassing the sensors censors.