[MUD-Dev] Thailand curfew

[Richard A. Bartle]

No-one else seems to have mentioned this, so I shall:

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3054590.stm
  http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=1899

It looks like some knees are jerking in Thailand.

		Richard

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3054590.stm
Thailand restricts online gamers

People the world over participate in online gaming

Thailand is to impose a night curfew on online gaming, because of
concerns about rising addiction rates among young players. The
curfew will mean that game servers will be blocked between 2200 and
0600 daily from 15 July, according to technology minister Surapong
Suebwonglee.

Internet cafes specialising in online gaming have mushroomed in
Thailand in recent years, with prices per hour averaging as little
as 10 to 20 baht (24 to 48 cents) an hour.

Of particular concern is the Korean role-playing game Ragnarok,
which has over 600,000 registered players in Thailand, many of them
children.

  "Ragnarok has become a drug, and all of my friends are addicted to
  it. Nobody plays soccer with me now." -- Thai student

"As a matter of fact Ragnarok is not a violent game," said Mr
Suebwonglee, "but its problem is that child players are becoming
addicted, so we have to prevent children playing for long periods of
time."

Mr Sisak Jamonaran, president of Thailand's Computer Society, agreed
that the situation was getting out of hand.

"The problem with Ragnarok is that there is no time limit. A game
can last over 10 hours," he told the BBC's East Asia Today
programme.

"Players become obsessed and they lose interest in other
activities," he said.

One young student, quoted by the Nation newspaper, said: "Ragnarok
has become a drug and all of my friends are addicted to it. Nobody
plays soccer with me now."

Mr Jamonaran said the problem with online gaming was more
fundamental than straight addiction.

"What the kids really need is love from their parents. Some parents
just do not have time for their kids, and that is why the kids go
online," he said.

But others said the move was draconian, and that parents were able
to regulate their children effectively.

"I allow my children to play the game for one or two hours after
they finish their homework," said one mother, also quoted by the
Nation newspaper.

"On weekends, we go to internet shops to play the game together,"
she said.

"We are a happy family. I wish critics of the game would try playing
it first."
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=1899
Thai government imposes night curfew on online gaming

Rob Fahey 16:20 08/07/2003
Gamers to be blocked from servers from 10pm to 6am amid fears of
addiction

Authorities in Thailand are set to impose a strict curfew on online
gaming which will see access to online game servers blocked between
10pm and 6am every day, with Internet cafes also facing curbs to
their business hours along the same lines.

The move, which is a trial measure set to run from July 15 to
September 30, comes amid fears of rising rates of addiction to
certain online games among younger players - with the Korean
role-playing game Ragnarok Online being singled out as a particular
cause for concern.

Ragnarok, which recently left its beta testing phase, was introduced
to Thailand seven months ago and currently has well over half a
million subscribers there. The game is also hugely popular in Korea,
Japan and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, and its popularity
is growing fast in the USA and Europe - leading to speculation that
it will soon be the most popular online game in the world.

Thai Information and Communications Technology minister Surapong
Suebwonglee announced the package of measures to combat online game
addiction today, addressing concerns from parents and politicians
that children as young as seven are becoming heavily addicted to the
games and playing them for many hours at a time.

As well as the curfew, the measures also include mandatory play
breaks every two hours in Internet cafes - presumably an attempt to
combat afflictions such as deep vein thrombosis, caused by remaining
sedentary for hours at a time, which have killed a number of gamers
in the Far East in the past year.
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