Thailand's government said on Tuesday it had banned Pornhub and other websites showing pornography, prompting social media anger over censorship and a protest against the decision. Digital minister Puttipong Punnakanta said the block was part of efforts to restrict access to porn and gambling websites, which were illegal under the country's cybercrime law. But many Thai users trended the SavePornhub hashtag on Twitter and criticized the shutting of a site in a country that was among the Top 20 by daily traffic for Pornhub in and which has a globally-known sex industry. According to Pornhub, Thai users spent more time on the site last year, at 11 minutes and 21 seconds, than elsewhere in the world. An activist group called Anonymous Party said: "We want to reclaim Pornhub. People are entitled to choices.
Global Information Society Watch
Search form
The following years have seen a constant stream of sometimes violent protests , regional unrest , [1] emergency decrees, [2] a new cybercrimes law, [3] and an updated Internal Security Act. By , estimates put the number of websites blocked at over , The national constitution provides for freedom of expression and press "as regulated by law"; but, the government imposes overwhelming limitations on these rights.
Turning to porn to survive
The Covid pandemic has plunged many people around the world into financial hardship, and many individuals -- including Thai citizens -- have turned to producing their own, adult content on the British social media platform OnlyFans, in order to survive. In fact, Thailand's harsh pornography laws don't seem to deter desperate content creators, some of whom said they had to resort to the infamous social media platform "to get through the pandemic". A year-old content creator, who was almost forced to give up his T-shirt shop in tourist-reliant Chatuchak market that he has had for 14 years, was among those who turned to the site after the pandemic struck. What else could I do, if I didn't turn to OnlyFans? On the platform, a visitor must subscribe to each creator for a monthly fee in order to see their pages' content. The man, who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of his work, said he decided to produce his own adult content on the site as he has to support his family and pay off his ,baht debt. After earning 30, baht from subscriptions in a month, he decided to stop posting until September, saying he was concerned about the public's views on his age and body shape, given his line of work, as well as the legal consequences of his decision. He then started a juice business, hoping to get back into ordinary work, but gave up after realising it didn't help ease his financial woes as much as he had hoped.
Thai women can be said to enjoy more equality than women in other countries in the region. For instance, Thailand is now ruled by its first female prime minister. Premarital sex, though taboo in conversation, is actually common. Thailand is also well known for its tolerance. Despite this, the society is dominated by patriarchal values, firmly held by the older generation. There is a lack of legal recognition for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender LGBT community, which is heavily stigmatised by the media.
