Mass Surveillance and the Militarization of Cyberspace in Post-Coup Thailand

Authors

  • Pinkaew Laungaramsri Chiang Mai University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14764/10.ASEAS-2016.2-2

Keywords:

Cyber Dystopia, Cyber Witch Hunt, Mass Surveillance, Militarization of Cyberspace, Thailand

Abstract

Post-coup Thailand has witnessed a troubling shift toward censorship, surveillance, and suppression in cyberspace. With cyber security ranking prominently on the military’s agenda and the expansion of the military’s cyber intervention, the country’s online infrastructure has undergone politicization, securitization, and militarization. This paper argues that the militarization of cyberspace in Thailand represents the process in which cyber warfare capabilities have been integrated with other military forces and with support from the masses. This process has been effective through at least three significant mechanisms, including mass surveillance, surveillance by the masses, and normalization of surveillance. Social media have been turned into an absolute digital panopticon. Cyber dystopia, created by the 2014 coup and supported by the masses, has served to sustain a ‘state of exception’ not only within the territorial borders of the state, but also more importantly, within the virtual space of civil society. Cyber surveillance by the military and the masses has continued to jeopardize the already vulnerable Thai democracy.

Author Biography

Pinkaew Laungaramsri, Chiang Mai University

Pinkaew Laungaramsri is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University. Contact: pinkaewl@yahoo.co

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Published

2016-12-30

Issue

Section

Current Research on Southeast Asia