UPDATE: Another BB source inside Thailand says YouTube is accessible now. I’m trying to confirm details, but three scenarios are possible: (1) this was a hoax (2) the government never blocked YouTube, and this was just an isolated issue with one user, or perhaps with one ISP (3) The government or various ISPs *did* block YouTube, but the site has since been made accessible. Censorship of TV broadcasts and other media in Thailand is not uncommon, and often haphazard when applied, so it could easily be any of the above.
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BoingBoing reader Paul says,
I am a New Zealander living in Bangkok, Thailand. For the last 24 hours, no You Tube in Thailand! The site redirects to picture of the King at this government web site. I don’t have UBC (Thai cable TV), just rely on internet for news/info on gummy bear chandeliers and stuff, and I can’t find any other information about why this is so. I really need to get my fix of illegal(?) broadcasts of The Colbert report. Help.
Anonymous says,
It wasn’t a hoax, a lot of my friends encountered the same block and redirection, BUT they can access youtube without the www, while www.youtube.com was blocked. This happened before with some hentai sites but they got around to that eventually, The best possibility is your #3, they are too dumb to realize the nature of youtube site, like how they misbanned geocities and angelfire before.
Mekongcola says,
Thailand has a long history of media censorship. Anything that conflicts with the official government statements, insults/degrades Buddhism, or is deemed as immoral (read naked people) is censored. Various examples here: Link.
Oscar Bartos says,
This doesn’t address the Thai youtube ban specifically, but if Paul is
looking for Colbert clips he won’t find much since the Youtube Viacom
crackdown. The next best thing is Comedy Central’s youtube-esque video
site: Link. Although I prefer the Colbert Report “channel” on ifilm with less
intrusive advertising: Link.Cynthia Barnes says,
I was able to access everything, but a number of my friends here in Bangkok were reporting that CNN, Google, and BBC News were also down. When this happens, we just assume soldiers are on the move and run down to the 7/11 to stock up on beer.
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