Thailand to seek int'l cooperation against internet pornography

December 15, 2004

Bangkok - Thailand will ask for international cooperation to fight against internet pornography, local press reported on Wednesday.

The government would put its proposal forward through diplomatic channels and at several international forums Thailand will host next year, Vice Culture Minister Weerasak Kowsurat was quoted by the newspaper Nation as saying.

The next Asia Cooperation Dialogue could be a good occasion to raise the topic with Asian leaders, said Weerasak.

In a bid to suppress the flow of illegal content in cyberspace, Thailand will seek to initiate an international legal agreement to criminalize websites and online games that portray sexual and other forms of violence -- wherever it originates.

"Existing international law does not tackle these problems. They mostly concentrate on paedophile material," Weerasak said.

"We will target the suppliers. It is the operators, not the users," he said.

With growing population using internet service, how to regulate websites' content has become a hot topic in Thailand.

Groups protecting children's rights have called for effective ways to prevent youngsters from browsing web pages containing violent or pornographic contents.

Software producers have also developed related software to help parents filter websites for their kids.

On both sides of the high way to Bangkok's international airport, large billboards have been erected to promote software aimed at preventing kids visiting pornographic websites.

Earlier in December, the Information and Communication Technology Ministry said pornographic websites topped the list of 2,500 websites blocked by the ministry in the past two years.

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