BANGKOK — Thailand’s junta-appointed legislature has passed a bill outlawing commercial surrogacy in the Kingdom following a string of surrogacy scandals last year.

The new law, passed by the National Legislative Assembly on Thursday, stipulates that only married couples with at least one Thai partner can access surrogacy services in Thailand.

The surrogate mother, who must be Thai and over 25, cannot receive any direct fees for the service.

The law was proposed last year after Thailand’s reputation as a go-to destination for affordable “fertility tourism” came into the spotlight following a series of international scandals.

The first incident involved an Australian couple who took home a baby girl but abandoned her twin brother with his Thai surrogate mother after discovering he had Down Syndrome.

In a separate scandal that emerged several months later, a 24-year-old Japanese man was discovered to have fathered at least 12 babies with surrogate mothers in Thailand. In January, he succesfully sued the Thai government for custody over three of the babies. 

"This law aims to stop Thai women's wombs from becoming the world's womb,” NLA member Wanlop Tankananurak told Reuters.

Under the new law, hiring women to commercially carry fetuses is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 

Surrogacy advocates say outlawing the practice risks driving the industry underground, or forcing couples to seek services in countries with less reliable medical services. Commercial surrogacy is currently legal in some US states, and countries like Russia, India, and Israel.

BANGKOK — Thailand’s military government has approved a measure requiring all mobile phone users to register pre-paid SIM cards in the interest of protecting "national security."

Mobile phone users have until July 31, 2015 to register with their network provider, which involves providing personal details such as their full name, ID, phone number, etc.

Those who use their phones to access free Wi-Fi services will also be required to register, officials said. Anyone who misses the deadline will be unable to use their phones, except for emergency calls to police and hospitals.

It is estimated that there are currently 90 million active and unregistered prepaid SIM cards in Thailand.

The measure, first proposed by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) last month, was approved by Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha's Cabinet on Wednesday. 

Thakorn Tanthasit, NBTC sec-gen, said the order is part of an effort to crack down on those who use mobile phones to facilitate criminal activities, threaten individuals, or spread libel.

“From now on the NBTC will be working closely with all public bodies, including Ministry of Labor, Interior Ministry, the Royal Thai Police, and the government’s Public Relations Department, to speed up the implementation and have all numbers have to be completely registered by July 31,” Thakorn said.

However, some mobile phone users have expressed concern that the order infringes on their privacy. The Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA) tweeted yesterday that measure is pushing Thailand even closer to a “surveillance state.”

According to ThaiTech, Australia, Japan, South Africa, and a number of European countries already have similar laws in place.

Since seizing power in a coup in May 2014, Thailand’s military junta has enacted a series of measures to strengthen the government’s surveillance capabilities. In January, the Cabinet approved a bill that would grant state authorities sweeping power to monitor the internet in the name of safeguarding "national cyber security."

According to a draft of the Cyber Security Act, available on the Thai Cabinet’s website, officials will be able to "access any channel of information and communication, including mails, telegrams, telephones, fax, computer, or any other type of electronic and telecommunication equipment" deemed necessary by authorities.

BANGKOK — In an effort to evade the Thai junta's ban on political protests, student activists in Bangkok have taken to expressing dissent through anonymous banners hung around the city.

At least two banners have been strung across pedestrian bridges in Bangkok over the past three days, bearing stern words for the Thai junta that seized power in a coup last May.

The first banner, hung near Bangkok University on Tuesday, said "Stop Abusing Students," following the arrest of a student activist and several others who organized a rare pro-democracy demonstration in downtown Bangkok on Saturday.

The second banner (above), hung early this morning near King Mongkut’s University of Technology, said "Down With Dictatorship – Long Live Democracy."  Text at the bottom of the banner warned: "This banner cannot self destruct, unless it is removed by a lackey of a dictator."

Both banners were removed by security officers several hours after they were erected. A student activist, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to Khaosod English that the banners were hung by student groups.

Since the May 2014 coup, several dozen student activists have posed the most consistent public challenge to the Thai junta, which has banned all political demonstrations and criticism of its regime. 

Although the military takeover was initially met with sizeable protests in Bangkok, the budding anti-coup movement was quickly squashed after soldiers began arresting demonstrators and sending them to face trial in military courts.

Only a small network of student activists, mostly in Bangkok, have continued to stage regular demonstrations, which are nearly always broken up by soldiers and often end in arrest.

While the students are normally briefly detained in army camps before being released without charges, Siriwit Serithiwat, the student arrested on Saturday for organizing a mock election, has been charged with defying the junta’s ban on protests and is expected to face trial in military court.

Hanging anonymous banners is not the first time student activists have sought to circumvent the junta's strict ban on public dissent. They have also organized "picnics" (which later led authorities to ban "eating sandwiches with anti-coup intent"), public read-ins of George Orwell’s 1984, and mass viewings of the Hunger Games movie, which became associated with the anti-coup movement after demonstrators adopted the film’s three-finger salute last May.

Earlier this month, students at Thammasat University used elaborate disguises to sneak parade floats that were critical of the junta past security officers who were monitoring their annual pre-football match parade. 

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