November 19, 2009
By Kornchanok@nationgroup.com
The Nation
Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's short messages have been sent to his fans' mobile phones again after a short break.
Thaksin said: "Chai-yo! We can get connected to each other now after [the service] was cut. Tell your friends to press 4552601 and then send to register [to receive Thaksin's messages]" in the SMS sent early yesterday.
The number for registration is new, meaning Thaksin has changed his service provider to manage and get his messages out.
Last time, Thaksin's messages were sent for only two days and then the service became unavailable.
On November 2, he sent a well-wishing message to fans on Loy Kratong Day.
That was the second note sent after he started the new way of communicating with supporters the previous day.
He posted a message on Twitter three days later claiming the government was blocking his SMS notes.
PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said the government did not block the service.
"The government has nothing to do with that. It is a contract between the operators and Thaksin. There's no need for the government to block it unless the content is illegal," he said.
But Thaksin posted another message again before he visited Cambodia that the government had threatened the SMS service provider to stop sending his messages. So, he would try a new technology to send SMS notes to supporters within the following week.
Thaksin started promoting his service last month. His fans were asked to send a short message to number 426425 to register for free notes to their mobile phones.
An industry source, who asked not to be named, said two of Thaksin's messages were sent to those who registered, but the third message from Thaksin was blocked by an operator.
The source said a government agency had contacted the operator and asked them to "cooperate" by not distributing his messages.
Although the contract between the service provider, who receives messages from Thaksin and passes them to receivers, has not ended, Thaksin learnt about the problem, and did not send any further notes.
TOT Plc president Varut Suvakorn said he had yet to check on the company's case. However, TOT had to comply with the law and could not provide information that might be a threat to national security or was morally offensive.
Another industry source, who asked not to be named, said the SMS operator who received messages from Thaksin's fans and passed them to the fugitive former PM was a different firm from the one distributing Thaksin's messages.
The company that receives messages from the public for Thaksin had not been contacted by the government.
However, it had suspended the service while waiting for the business contract to be "clarified".
The source also said it was unlikely Thaksin used a new technology to start the service again. But he had changed service providers to get the new messages sent.
According to the two sources, over 100,000 people registered to receive Thaksin's messages.
In the meantime, Thaksin's close aide Noppadon Pattama said Thaksin had been trying to build his ways to connect and keep in touch with supporters.
SMS was expected to be the most popular channel to link with supporters. Thaksin could also receive and sent personal messages in reply.
According to companies' reports, Advanced Info Service had 28.2 million subscribers at the end of September this year. Total Access Communication (DTAC) had 19.3 subscribers, while TrueMove had 15.2 million subscribers at the end of June. In total, there are at least 62.7 million mobile subscribers.
If the government really did block Thaksin's messages, one imagines he would not stop looking for new ways to try to maintain his support.
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