14 DAY TRIAL // Sameskybooks.com, a website that hosted messages posted by the users criticizing the Thai monarchy, got banned after the country's authorities forced the ISP to close the page. Internet Service Provider Netservice sent a letter to the operator of the website to inform him that it got pressured by the Information and Communication Technology Ministry to shut down the website that published messages "questioning claims in the Thai media that the entire country was in mourning over the death Wednesday of Princess Galyani Vadhana", AP adds.
Thanapol Eiwsakul, the owner of the website, said he didn't receive any other letter from the ministry, so he didn't have any idea if he got indicted or he's allowed to relaunch the website. However, he's now looking for an international Internet service provider that would allow him to run the page, Thanapol told AP. Moreover, he might proceed to legal action against the government because "it had not sought a court order before closing the site."
"I received a letter from Netservice that the ministry pressured them to shut down our Web site or it would shut down Netservice", Thanapol commented the government's decision to ban the website. "I think we're one of the few sites posting remarks against the monarchy. This is the price we are paying", AP added citing The Nation publication.
This is not the first time when the Thai government blocks websites or Internet services for publishing content criticizing the monarchy. Back in 2007, the famous online video sharing service YouTube got banned after several clips described as offensive for the king. Because the YouTube representatives didn't find the clip as offensive, they refused to remove them, which resulted in a four months ban for the Google service. The restriction was finally removed when YouTube started a series of talks with the authorities for limiting the access to certain clips.