“It is sad that today we cannot find any Thai products. The technology show here provides foreigners an opportunity to take money from Thai people. To be truly proud, it should show technology that has been developed by Thais” (The Nation)

That’s another quote from Sitthichai, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology. He said that in February of this year at an IT exhibition. For someone so apparently xenophobic, it’s interesting to note that Sitthichai received most of his education in Australia (1968-1972 and 1975-1978). What drives this man to be so wary of the outside world? He is not stupid. His skills in science and electronics have won him numerous accolades, which is why I have a hard time believing that he really doesn’t get the internet. Only ignorance of the highest order could account for his dismissal of the world wide web as a whole.

Sitthichai has worked extensively in the fields of electronics and engineering, but what is also interesting is that he is the richest of all the current ministers (even more so than the prime minister), with assets worth 318.9 million baht. His wife is even more wealthy, with assets amounting to 814 million baht. Between them, the two are worth some US$35 million. For someone who appears as such a bumbler in the public eye, he has a pretty hefty nest egg to look after. (Incidentally, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla, who has been in Washington justifying Thailand’s overriding of US pharmaceutical patents, only has assets worth 4.5 million baht.)

Professor Pairash Thajchayapong was many peoples’ tip for ICT minister following September 19, but Prime Minster Surayud instead opted to give the job to his old friend Sitthichai (the two had met during Surayud’s time as head of the army’s rice projects).

We already know that Sitthichai is a liar, or at least a manipulator of the truth. He says he has only ordered five websites to close, but as FACT has already pointed out, website blocking jumped 500% after the coup. His resentment towards YouTube is in keeping with his resentment towards foreigners and foreign businesses. Is the suing of YouTube a one-man crusade against corporate America?

Techno’ tags: Bangkok, Thailand, MICT, YouTube, Sitthichai