Bio-technology hits like a blitz

Bio-technology hit Thailand like a blitz and launched unusual attacks on sensitive opponents; activists kicked it off by denouncing a Bangkok conference by the United Nations Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development as a conspiracy of big governments, big business and big bureaucracy to force-feed Frankenfood to the proles; the UN replied with a highly aggressive verbal assault on the Luddite protesters and NGOs, who they said are trying to block development of foods, crops and technology that can lift the world's poor out of hunger, misery and poverty.

The United Nations Development Programme heaped praise on Schoolnet@1509, the project that has put more than 2,500 Thai schools on the Net in six years; the UNDP's Human Development Report 2001 said Thailand was an outstanding example of a nation using technology for the advantage of all citizens; the report added a gratuitous and entertaining attack on sensitive Luddite protesters and NGOs as "special interests committed to yesterday's technology," trying to block useful advances.

Take a look at Schoolnet@1509 if you never have seen it; this wonderful, cheap student Internet access is the brainstorm of the National Electronic and Computer Technology Centre and its Network Technology Laboratory; the unit plans to have 5,000 schools online within a year at (http://www.school.net.th)The inter-government commission to negotiate the Communications Authority out of their 32% ownership of Internet service providers suddenly met again; the CAT repeated its standard mantra, that it will graciously give up the shares it got for free, for a huge price, much more than the risible 4.8 million baht plus 18% interest the government offered last year.

Up-country fixed-line phone folks Thai Telephone and Telecommunications said mobiles were stealing their business; TT&T has completed an Internet-based plan to retaliate and re-capture phone users, who can't use their yuppiephones to connect to the Net, especially the World Wide Web; Pisit Leeatham, president of TT&T, said he would be offering high-tech, always-on Internet access to companies and schools, with a special deal for home users: personal phones linked via a wireless connection, just like Japanese i-mode.

Not only TT&T belly-ached about the mobiles; Sanguabsak Bhesajsanguan, a TelecomAsia vice-president, said yuppiephone businesses were taking bread from the fixed-line firm's mouth with better service at a cheaper price; Mr Sanguabsak said private entrepreneurs armed with cheap phones simply show up at TA's best-located public phones and set up a table offering calls at two baht a minute.

Japanese have it, but an expert told Thailand bluntly you can forget about 3G technology on your yuppiephones for five years, minimum; you will get 2.5G, otherwise known as General Packet Radio System or GPRS, and you'll like it; even then, warned Matthias Goertz of the Bangkok office of Boston Consulting Group, only the top two firms could afford the relatively high-speed wireless Internet access.

Orange yuppiephones-the company, not the colour-will come with a money-back guarantee for lousy connections when the Chicken People crank up the CP Orange service; after the usual complicated ownership ensuring CP of a profit, the mobile business will put its first 100,000 customers online by September, the company promises; actually, they're only kidding about "money back," but if your connection drops out, you'll get a free one-minute call in return.

Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said he would love to catch all those pesky CD pirates, software and music alike, but it's so hard when they have political connections; this was after his police seized a paltry 30,000 audio CDs from the old Nonthaburi factory where officers said they seized the whole machine last year, but didn't.

Internet audience experts Nielsen/NetRatings noted there are more Asian women than ever on the Net-no, not the picture sites, at the keyboards; 48% of web users in Australia are women and South Korea has the sixth most women surfers on Earth, 45%.

The extremely troubled Welsh teen-ager who calls himself "the saint of e-commerce" and stole your credit card number from the Loxinfo e-commerce site in February, 1999, didn't go to jail; the judge finally decided to give Raphael Gray, now 19, three years of community rehabilitation along with psychiatric care he badly needs; Gray allegedly bought Viagra with the stolen credit card number of Microsoft chief programmer Bill Gates and get this-so far as we know, Mr Gates did not send back the tablets. Hacker L4m4, a young man with a lot of time on his hands, broke into 48 Australian web sites in seven days.