From: trin@tlaeng.enet.dec.com (Trin Tantsetthi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai
Subject: Re: connectivity inside Thailand
Date: 9 Sep 92 00:37:52 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment (Thailand), Ltd.

Post Database (the Bangkok Post IT supplement)
September 9, 1992

Chula opens link to Internet in US
by Tony Waltham

  Chulalongkorn University is now Thailand's gateway for Internet with a
dedicated, leased line connecting equipment at the university's Centre for
academic Resources to UUNET (Alternet) in Virginia in the United States.
  This 9600 bps (bits per second) link finally puts Thailand on the global
roadmap of Internet, which contains a wealth of information and news in
thousands of databases and conferences around the world.
  Dr Yunyong Teng-amnuay who has been working on this project along with
Prof Charumatr Pinthong established the connection, enabled with equipment
borrowed from several computer companies in Bangkok and United States.
  Dr Yunyong noted that the link is now in an experimental stage, and is for
academic and research purposes -- but already has 400 users, although not
all are active.
  "We would like to provide the academic and research community with a free
service for the first year trial period," Dr Yunyong said.
  He noted that the costs of the leased line were high, running to some
three million baht a year, but that this allowed 24-hours a day access
directly to the United States which was where the highest volume of Internet
traffic from Thailand was.
  At present Chulalongkorn faculty members have access to it, and students
can access it at university's main library where there are a number of
terminals linked to the DECstation 5000/125 RISC workstation with a 1.3
gigabyte hard disk on loan from Digital Equipment Corporation (Thailand).
  The concept of providing access to the Internet is in line with the
President of Chulalongkorn University's concept of providing free access to
information.
 Each day, some 30 megabytes of fresh news is generated on Internet and
Chulalongkorn University would like to get as much information as possible,
importing databases and storing them here for ease and speed of access.
  "We have to run to catch up with the rest of the world," Dr Yunyong noted,
adding that the rest of the global community which was largely networked
already would not stand by and wait for Thailand to catch up.
  This new access to Internet is also perceived as helping to lessen the
brain drain since information on databases accessible through Internet are
"just two seconds away" and this means that a scholar or researcher can be
working here in Thailand and still be part of the world community.
  "We have accessed many university libraries," Yunyong noted, adding that
the Internet links meant that a visiting professor would be encouraged to
visit and stay here since he or she could remain in touch with his home
campus and even supervise students from Thailand.
  The leased line was officially open and working on July 28 after a three
month installation and set-up period. In addition tothe DEC workstation and
a terminal, equipment in use has been donated by Telebit Corp of California
(Netblazer router and Worldblazer V32bis and PEP mode), from Olympia Thai,
AT&T and C&C Computer.
[end]

The author of this article can be reached at tonyw@ipied.tu.ac.th.