History of Internet
in Thailand
A Brief History of Internet in thailand
Some Thai students and visitors to the United States
of America had been given Internet addresses but when they return
to Thailand, not many continued to use their addresses because of
the high cost of international telephone connection. In 1987, the
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand entered into an
agreement with the Department of Computer Science at the University
of Melbourne in Australia to operate Internet email service on a
regular basis. The Australian node would call AIT three times a
day to send and collect mail.
AIT charged 200 baht (about US $8) per month for
upto 15,000 characters transferred (counting both in and out messages
combined) plus one baht for every additional 50 characters. One
of the problems was the inability to control incoming mail, especially
the lengthy Calls for Papers, list of reference, etc. which was
not asked for, and had to be paid for because they had automatically
entered the mailbox. This problem was later solved when the rate
was changed to a fix amount per month rather than varying with the
number of characters. Another problem was that during the connection
to Australia, usually three times a day at 02:30, 15:30 and 19:30,
users were requested not to call the only dial-in number with the
only modem available at that time.
In 1988, Prince of Songkhla University in the southern
part of Thailand established an Internet node connected to Melbourne
University a few times a day. Two dial-in telephone numbers were
made available from 09:00 in the morning till 19:00 in the evening.
In 1991, Digital Equipment (Thailand) Ltd. acquired
an Internet address for internal and research-related usage. No
dial-in number was made available and user had to use the machine
at the company.
A major breakthrough occurred in 1991 when Chulanlogkorn
University became Internet gateway in Thailand. After sufficient
testing, full operation was started in July 1992 with a 9600 baud
leased line to Virginia, U.S.A. and later upgrades to 64 K line.
The fees for the leased line with 25% educational discount from
the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) were about 5.2 million
baht per year (about US$ 468,000). Initially only one telephone
line was made available but by 1993 twenty lines were accessible.
The all day, all night and full Internet service at Chulalongkorn
University were obviously much better than the email-only at AIT.
Instead of waiting a day or so for the message to be routed through
Australia, one could communicates as many times a day as necessary
and desirable. One could use the "talk" command to enter
into interactive communication. When calls for papers were received
from the network, one could ask for and obtain clarification right
way.
In January 1992, the National Electronics and Computer
Technology Center (NECTEC) established the NECTEC E-mail Work Group
(NWG). In February 1992, NWG established a network named ThaiSarn
(Thai Social/scientific, Academic and Research Network) with a machine
donated by IBM, two dial-in telephone lines available 24 hours a
day for NWG connections. UUCP (UNIX-UNIX Copy) was made hourly with
Thammasat University and Prince of Songkhla University, and international
connection with Australia through AIT three times a day. The service
was later upgraded to included six dial-in telephone lines and 24
hours per day international connection through Chulalongkorn University.
Then in September 1993, NECTEC became the second gateway from Thailand
and it was connected to Virginia, U.S.A. by a 64 K leased line.
In January 1992, Thammasat University (TU) Information
Processing Institute for Education and Development (IPIED) also
registered as an Internet node. One dial-in telephone number was
made available 24 hours a day.
The Faculty of Engineering at King Mongkut's Institute
of Technology Ladkarbang started experimenting with Internet in
mid 1992 connected to at Thammasat. At the beginning, only about
40 users were approved. Later the Computer Research and Service
Center which serves all the faculties established a central node
for Ladkrabang. By October 1993, about 500 Internet addresses had
been given.
Digital Equipment (Thailand) joined ThaiSarn in
January 1992 but was later disconnected because commercial organization
was not allowed to use educational Internet in Thailand. Prince
of Songkla University and AIT joined ThaiSarn in 1992 but AIT later
installed a direct leased line to Chulalongkorn University.
