CDRM bans phone eavesdropping
The Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy Saturday imposed a ban on wiretapping and threatened to revoke the concessions of telecoms operators caught eavesdropping, its spokesman said.
"It's the military coup leaders' order that wiretapping is banned and anyone -- wiretappers, masterminds, operators -- would face the harshest punishment of fines and jail terms," said Lieutenant General Palangoon Klaharn."The operator will face the most serious punishment, including the revocation of the concession." A telecom company founded and later sold by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Advanced Info Service, is Thailand's largest mobile phone operator and controls more than 51 percent of the 33-million-user market. Palangoon said the ban, effective immediately, did not target any particular operator and was in line with international standards. Previously wiretapping was legal only for police who obtained a court order or for the nation's intelligence agencies. The CDRM also warned they would "retaliate" against foreign media they said had insulted the revered monarchy in reporting their coup, a junta spokesman said. "At today's meeting top military leaders asked the foreign ministry to urgently retaliate against foreign reporters whose coverage has been deemed insulting to the monarchy," deputy spokesman Major General Thaweep Netniyan told reporters. Thaweep, speaking at a press conference after a three-hour meeting of the generals, did not name the foreign media organisations or dispatches deemed offensive and did not specify how the regime would retaliate. Insulting the king is a serious criminal offense in Thailand, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The junta also instructed the foreign ministry to quickly "clarify" the situation in Thailand with other countries as well as the foreign media via Thai embassies and military attaches. "Diplomats here may be summoned again to explain the situation," he said. Agence France-Presse
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