The cabinet on Tuesday approved a project to install a surveillance and sensor system across the country, and Bangkok officials announced a new CCTV network in a downtown area. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in cooperation with the private sector announced a programme to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in a prime shopping area for the safety of Bangkok residents and tourists.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister's Office assistant spokesman Chotechai Suwannaporn said the same type of CCTV cameras and other surveillance gear used at London's Heathrow airport will be installed to increase Thai efficiency in preventing smuggling, checking suspicious parcels and collecting information.

A facial scan system and infrared cameras to scan vehicular licence plate numbers will be included in the surveillance network proposed by the Ministry of Finance.

CCTV cameras will be installed at 1,199 spots at permanent border checkpoints, customs checkpoints, ports, and international airports.

The government has a five-year contract with state-run CAT Telecom and a budget of Bt740 million to run the project.

Meanwhile, Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin and Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association chairman Chai Srivikorn signed an agreement for a safety system development project at the shopping street in the Ratchaprasong area, close to where bombers killed four people and wounded 30 in New Year's Eve terrorist attacks.

Under the 20-million-baht phase one of the project, a budget of more than 20 million baht will be spent on CCTV cameras will be installed in public areas, including along sidewalks, and on pedestrian bridges connecting buildings to the BTS elevated train stations.

The BMA will clear the area in Ratchaprasong, Ploenchit, Rama I, and Ratchadamri for the association to install surveillance cameras to cover over one million square kilometres.

The CCTV surveillance system will be linked to the Metropolitan Police Bureau to monitor the area around the clock.

The BMA will work with the military, police force, and volunteers to provide security all the times for the safety of the downtown shopping area.

The project follows a report on July 10 from government security units warning that southern insurgents may attempt to create unrest in Bangkok.

Taking effect today, a new law allows police officers or government inspectors to seize computers on private premises suspected of containing pornographic material or evidence in connection with either general criminal activities or cyber crimes.

The 2007 Computer-related Crimes Act also prevents unauthorised applications and access made to other people's computers, as well as alteration, deletion or destruction of the information of others.

Impostors using others' identities to send slanderous messages, or those who flood information on discussion forums are also subject to criminal penalties under the law, proposed and drafted by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) and enforced by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry.

The Act also subjects those circulating pornographic material or libellous content through e-mails to heavy fines. The Act originated from anti-hacking efforts a few years ago when Nectec began its fight against the practice and later studied online intrusions. But other online crimes have also been included in the law.

The Act also requires Internet service providers (ISPs) to keep log files of bandwidth consumption and Internet traffic and records of individual users for 90 days.

Nectec director Pansak Siriruchatapong said the Act, in theory, would provide benefits to the country as a whole. However, he expressed concern about the capability of officials, who are required to have knowledge of computers. Nectec's legal specialist Surangkana Wayapard said the new Act was expected to set a standard and to give confidence to e-commerce businesses, national security forces, and e-business transactions. It will also encourage electronic transactions, security on the Internet, and electronic commerce in Thailand while discouraging anti-authoritarian people from carrying out illegal activities on the network.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, vice president of the Thai E-Commerce Association, said the Act had both pros and cons. The disadvantages would immediately subject the business sector to financial burdens with the mandatory storage of log files, new servers and storage units, especially firms with a huge amount of information, Net traffic and transactions.

On the positive side, the Act signified the government's official and serious involvement, and legitimate role, in tackling online crimes with newer technology.

The Computer Crime Act will finally enable authorities to protect 'netizens' and enhance e-commerce: The long-awaited Computer Crime Act, which comes into effect today, will have a positive impact on both avid "netizens" and non-computer users alike by protecting online privacy and ensuring Internet security. The new law was also designed to enhance electronic commerce and national security, and should as a result encourage online transactions by creating a safer cyber-environment that is more conducive to business for all. The Computer Crime Act is Thailand's first serious attempt at dealing with crimes in cyberspace. The goal of the act is to plug the loopholes in existing laws in order to empower law-enforcement agencies to more effectively deal with crimes committed via the computer or Internet. Such crimes include hacking, unlawfully accessing computers or network resources, and the unauthorised interception of e-mails or data transmission with the aim to commit theft or do harm to others. Without this law, law-enforcement officials would be unable to apply the Criminal Code and criminal procedures in order to go after cyber-criminals.

Computer crimes have had a negative impact on businesses, particularly those that rely heavily on electronic transactions. However, these cyber-crimes have usually been kept secret out of the fear companies had that publicising them would weaken consumers' confidence in doing business online.

It is a well-known fact that Internet service providers (ISPs) and commercial banks have been spending millions of baht each year just to keep hackers at bay and secure their information technology systems against malicious virus attacks.

Contrary to the fears expressed by some-civil liberty advocates, the law is not intended to give authorities too much power to impose censorship, restrict freedom of expression, or infringe on individual rights and privacy. Indeed, the law seeks to enhance individual privacy: under the Computer Crime Act, employers are forbidden from screening or monitoring employees' e-mails without prior notice.

The Act also does not give the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister too much power as it relates to blocking websites. The minister is required to seek a court order in order to block any website, with such decisions to be made on a case-by-base basis.

The law also bolsters the capability of law-enforcement agencies to go after international criminals as well. The law specifies that any criminal act targeting or negatively affecting a person in Thailand will fall into the jurisdiction of Thai law enforcers, who will be able to prosecute wrongdoers regardless of where in the world they committed the crime.

There had been debate about the possible liability of ISPs in cases of criminals using their resources to commit crimes. But the law makes it clear that ISPs who operate their businesses in good faith have nothing to fear. For example, ISPs that take prompt and appropriate action against criminals to stop them from using their networks to commit crimes or take remedial measures will not be prosecuted as accessories to criminal actions.

Specialised law-enforcement officials will be trained to conduct investigations of computer-related crimes. The Royal Thai Police force meanwhile will be developing its capacity to investigation computer crimes. Since there are currently too few officers who specialise and are well versed in computer crime investigation and evidence-gathering techniques, police will refer cases of computer crime to the ICT Ministry for investigation.

Now that the law is in effect, people will have to think twice about such innocuous activities as forwarding e-mails containing information or pictures of other people in compromising positions, or circulating URLs of websites that offer content such as pornography. Senders will now have to consider the impact of this material on others because those forwarding such material can also be prosecuted for infringing on others' rights to privacy.

The law will require ISPs to back up information, such as IP addresses and user logs, which would increase their cost of doing business. However, this would improve security on all sides and create an environment in which more people are encouraged to do business online, which would benefit all parties, including ISPs.