Adults win reprieve from Thai games ban

From next month, gamers aged 18 and above will have to register with a mandatory age-check system to be excluded from the gaming ban. Registration can be done at post offices for less than Bt30 (£0.47), information and communication technology minister Surapong Suebwonglee said in the report.

The post office will first verify the applicant's information, such as name and age, before forwarding it to the service providers. It will act as a clearing house, a better alternative to direct links between the service-providers and the government database, which could compromise gamers' right to privacy.

Registrations begin by the end of this month, Surapong said in the report.

Thai authorities imposed a curfew on online gaming so the country's youths can have more time to rest and study.

Under the new rule, both local and overseas servers -- which are required for networked gaming with other players -- will be blocked from 10 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily from 15 July to 30 September. Internet cafes and online gaming centres will also be subjected to this restriction, newswire AFP reported.

Online game servers were also told to authenticate Thai national ID cards so that older players won't be trapped by the curfew aimed at students.