I might be wrong but I don't think this internet gateway is going to make much difference to most people. I highly doubt they are looking to bring in some kind of Chine-esq great firewall. Remember that China has never had free and open access to the internet, so the phrase 'you don't miss what you never had' certainly applies here. And anyway, China has, over many years, simply mimicked many of the most popular Western-style websites with their own versions, which are easier to to police.

Cambodia on the other hand has an entire generation that has grown up with practically full and unrestricted access to most of the internet. The only censorship they've encountered is related to the limitations on what is sensible to say and sensible to keep to yourself online, not the actual internet or websites itself.

Because of this, I think they'd have a tough time restricting certain parts of the internet, or trying to implement some kind of firewall similar to what we see in China.

I think this is much more about it being easier to police what people are saying online and making it easier to have a single switch they can use to turn the whole internet off in times of emergency.

Apart from that, I don't think anyone will notice their day-to-day internet use change at all.

Just continue to be aware of what you're saying on public forums, but that's always been the case anyway.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:09 am so what sites are you all unable to access or need a vpn for?

I only use it to watch geo-blocked Australian TV, both live and catch-up. That's literally the only reason I have it. And whilst some of it may be available to download from various means, I'd rather just be able to flick it on and see what's on sometimes. It's only $25/year.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:51 am heres what they are doing in Burma"

".....Junta announces new cybersecurity law
The military has developed a new cybersecurity law which would outlaw the use of VPNs to reduce internet access and limit connectivity and money flow to anti-junta groups, Nikkei reports. The revised version of the law, which was first drafted in February of last year, now stipulates imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of K500,000 (US$280) for anyone caught using a VPN"

....the law demands that service providers make available the personal information of users upon request from the authorities. While the law has technically not yet been passed, junta officials this week reportedly already began stopping people to check their phones for VPNs. One resident said that she was stopped while driving her motorcycle and once the junta confirmed that she did not have any VPN software on her device she was allowed to leave, but for others who did have a VPN, their phones were confiscated and some were reportedly even detained.

so just by having a vpn on ur laptop/phone ur fucked

Hard to believe to be honest. Most modern phones have a VPN app installed by default in Android.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:24 am

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:51 am heres what they are doing in Burma"

".....Junta announces new cybersecurity law
The military has developed a new cybersecurity law which would outlaw the use of VPNs to reduce internet access and limit connectivity and money flow to anti-junta groups, Nikkei reports. The revised version of the law, which was first drafted in February of last year, now stipulates imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of K500,000 (US$280) for anyone caught using a VPN"

....the law demands that service providers make available the personal information of users upon request from the authorities. While the law has technically not yet been passed, junta officials this week reportedly already began stopping people to check their phones for VPNs. One resident said that she was stopped while driving her motorcycle and once the junta confirmed that she did not have any VPN software on her device she was allowed to leave, but for others who did have a VPN, their phones were confiscated and some were reportedly even detained.

so just by having a vpn on ur laptop/phone ur fucked

Hard to believe to be honest. Most modern phones have a VPN app installed by default in Android.

If you've watched the indiscriminate practices of the junta in action for many years, it's pretty easy to believe.

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:34 am
If you've watched the indiscriminate practices of the junta in action for many years, it's pretty easy to believe.

I am sure they want it, but good luck removing that VPN app which is basically integrated into the Android OS.

The only way around it would be to only allow smartphones designed for the Chinese market. AFAIK that's not the case in Myanmar.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:12 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:01 am

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:34 am
If you've watched the indiscriminate practices of the junta in action for many years, it's pretty easy to believe.

I am sure they want it, but good luck removing that VPN app which is basically integrated into the Android OS.

The only way around it would be to only allow smartphones designed for the Chinese market. AFAIK that's not the case in Myanmar.

plenty of chinese smartphones there for sale:
if what you say is true and the vpn is installed, every shop will be forced to uninstall the app before they sell them.

or they just ban imports of ones with vpn's>
and they will be smuggled over from Thailand/India

Just waiting for the 1st weterner whose phone is looked at and it has a vpn on it..

It's not about whether it's a Chinese phone or not. Chinese phones designed for sale in the West don not have the restirictions applicable on phones for the Chonese domestic market.
Chinese phones for the domestic market have a different OS / App set than the ones sold abroad.

Just look into the settings of your Chinese phone, big chance you will find the option 'VPN' there which is in the default OS and at least very difficult, but probably impossible to remove, simply because Android won't allow users to mess (easily) with the OS.

If Myanmar wants to enforce this, and really doesn't allow the use of VPN's, they need to effectively ban the import of all phones other than those designed for the domestic Chinese market. Again, AFAIK that's not the case at this time, so there must be loads of phones with build in VPN services (switched off by default).

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:12 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:01 am

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 9:34 am
If you've watched the indiscriminate practices of the junta in action for many years, it's pretty easy to believe.

I am sure they want it, but good luck removing that VPN app which is basically integrated into the Android OS.

The only way around it would be to only allow smartphones designed for the Chinese market. AFAIK that's not the case in Myanmar.

plenty of chinese smartphones there for sale:
if what you say is true and the vpn is installed, every shop will be forced to uninstall the app before they sell them.

or they just ban imports of ones with vpn's>
and they will be smuggled over from Thailand/India

Just waiting for the 1st weterner whose phone is looked at and it has a vpn on it..

Right? Sounds like we need to start a GoFundMe before the inevitable happens

If VPN apps were to be disallowed on any larger scale there would be a new default function in all of them called something like "hide app" where it would disguise the process etc from your usual uneducated uniform.

Nothing to worry about at all unless you are in Myanmar and it's just starting to happen.

Mind you many VPN already offer custom solutions for Chinese customers. There is always a way around.

And using VPN in Cambodia is perfectly fine as of now, any issues are more likely with your provider or local setup.

I do get dead connection sometimes but reconnect works fine.