Thailand's turn

Wednesday, September 07, 2005 (07:03 UTC)

This is getting tedious. According to Norwegian TV, Thailand's military has discovered Google Earth, and they don't like what they see.

To paraphrase (not that I speak Norwegian or anything), the Thai military sees the images as a threat to national security, and is considering asking Google to censor important state buildings, but also those of tourist attractions.

The article incorrectly notes that in the US, the White House and military bases are censored. The White House and Area 51 were censored, but no longer are.

[Update 7:13 UCT: Ah here is the story in English. I'm pretty sure that net-net all this complaining is a positive for Google Earth's popularity. Note that hackles are almost always raised by non-intelligence types — nuclear agency heads, local councilmen, politicians, military types... These are people unused to the capabilities of satellite surveillance technology. In Australia, the US and the Netherlands, intelligence officials invariably have to quell these hotheads.]

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