Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has decided to shut down all online game web sites at 22.00 hrs in the evening until the end of this month, after which those gaming servers will only be re-opened to Thais aged 18 years or over who have legal ID documents which they can request from their local post office, according to Thai Information Minister Surapong Suebwonglee.

Minister Surapong Suebwonglee further said that those new rules would apply from 30 September 2003 onwards, after which Thai gamers would only be able to access online games after 22.00 hrs in the evening if they had a special security code, which they will able to request from their post office on presentation of an ID card proving that they are aged 18 years or over.

Describing the new measures as necessary to present problems, he said that gamers in Thailand would also have to pay a commission fee of around Bt30 per game played.

The Thai ministry was currently negotiating with all four of Thailand's online gaming providers and that until those negotiations were finalised, all access to online games in Thailand after 22.00 hrs in the evening would be blocked.

However, he conceded that the ban could lead to the emergence of illegal online gaming by Thai people hacking into gaming sites from abroad, and said that the ministry was searching for measures that would also block those sites.