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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Venezuela's Chavez says he was treated for cancer | 2:26am EDT Casey Anthony will not testify in murder trial 30 Jun 2011 Nearsightedness linked to serious eye disease 30 Jun 2011 Case against Strauss-Kahn near collapse: sources 2:56am EDT White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama 30 Jun 2011 Discussed 99 Top Republicans insist no taxes in debt deal 85 White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama 75 U.S. cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting Watched A Tokyo-Paris flight in under three hours on the horizon Fri, Jun 24 2011 Hefner's revenge; Ryan Reynolds stops traffic Fri, Jun 17 2011 Justin Wolfers on America's lost decade Thu, Jun 30 2011 Thais face jail if they send campaign Tweets during poll Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Analysis: A "Thaksinomics" renaissance in Thailand Thu, Jun 30 2011 News Corp sells Myspace, ending six-year saga Wed, Jun 29 2011 Zynga IPO could raise $2 billion, file Wed: source Tue, Jun 28 2011 China premier's call for reform draws accolades and barbs Tue, Jun 28 2011 Special Report: A little house of secrets on the Great Plains Tue, Jun 28 2011 Analysis & Opinion Tech wrap: Microsoft reaches for the cloud Where campaign finance needs to go now Related Topics Technology » By Ploy Ten Kate BANGKOK | Fri Jul 1, 2011 2:45am EDT BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thais face jail if they campaign during Sunday's election on social media sites such as Twitter, with more than 100 police monitoring sites to make sure the law is enforced. People will not be able to comment on any candidate or party in the election, which many hope can revitalize democracy after six years of crisis, from 6 p.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday until midnight on Sunday when the results should be known. Polls open at 8 a.m. on Sunday and close at 3 p.m. "Any candidates and their supporters will face jail time if they are caught campaigning on social media websites on the evening before the July 3 election," said Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, secretary-general of the Election Commission. Offenders face a maximum six months in prison and a 10,000 baht ($330) fine. Saturday evening is a cooling-off period with all campaigning banned. The ban includes sending short telephone texts and forwarding emails. The sale of alcohol is also banned over the same period, as normal in Thailand during elections. The law on political campaigning through online media is not new, but it has only become an issue as sites like Facebook and Twitter have grown popular in Thailand in recent years. "There will be a unit of more than 100 officers to monitor this," said police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri of the social media ban. "If we can track the origin of (an online message) right away, we will block the site and make an arrest. But if the sites are registered overseas and we can't check the origin, we'll first block it and ask the IP (Internet Protocol) providers for further investigation," Prawut said. Pavin Chachavalpongpun, of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said the law was bizarre but not surprising from a government that has shut down thousands of websites since coming to power in December 2008. "It will be impossible to stop people from doing it. We are living in a digital age and meant to be promoting democracy. Why come up with this?" The law also has a darker side, with implications on the way the information is used in future. "Of course, there's a possibility that this could be seen as a tool for disqualifying winning candidates," said political analyst Sukhum Nuansakul, a former lecturer at Bangkok's Ramkhamhaeng University. "I think, the point here is that they want to stop people from possible cheating and last-minute campaigning but again they have to be very clear about who is really a wrongdoer. You shouldn't be charged if your friend sends a text message trying to convince you to vote for someone." Kanitha Boonmak, a 30-year-old office worker in downtown Bangkok, said if the ban meant stopping people from sending malicious messages and defaming others, she would agree with it. "But if it's there only to stop us from having an opinion, I don't think that's fair," she said. "We should be able to speak our minds." (Additional reporting by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel) Technology Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. 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