YouTube to Be Banned Again

YouTube is banned in Thailand. Or not. Or yes. Or not. Or... Who knows? Really now, is there anybody who can sustain for sure that YouTube is not banned in Thailand? I don't think so because this is one of the top news stories in the last five months when YouTube was banned by the Thai government then it was made available, blocked again and finally it re-became accessible to all the users. After a 5 months dispute, the ban over the popular video sharing service was removed and YouTube became accessible to all the users. But now, it seems like the government wants to block the page again as it contains insulting clips for the local authorities.

According to Reuters, it's all about two clips called "The Crisis of Siam" which "accuse former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of plotting the September 2006 coup, not the generals who took credit." The decision is not yet applied but the authorities confirmed their intentions to ban YouTube or at least to block the access to these two clips.

"In the next couple of days, we will seek a court order to block those links deemed to cause public confusion and threaten national security," Yanaphon Youngyuen, head of the Justice Ministry's Internet crimes unit, said according to Reuters. "While awaiting the court order, we are seeking cooperation from Internet service providers to block those links."

As I said, this is not the first time when YouTube might be banned in Thailand as there is a long story about the Google's video sharing service adventures into this country. Some time ago, the Thai government demanded YouTube to block the access to some clips which were insulting the country's king but the Google employees refused to do so as the videos were not infringing the internal guidelines. Thailand banned YouTube until the clips are removed and, approximately 5 months, the service re-became available.