[Australia]: Operation Listen Thailand

[Owen]

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OPERATION LISTEN THAILAND​

CLASSIFIED AND TOP SECRET​

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Objective:	Intercept and monitor communications coming from Thailand
Date:	16 December 1999 - Present
Location:	N/A
Status:	Ongoing

BELLIGERENTS​

Australia Australian Signals Directorate Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

Thailand

COMMANDERS AND LEADERS​

Kim Beazley (Prime Minister) John Faulkner (Minister for Defence) Ian McKenzie (Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate) Dennis Richardson (Director-General of Security)

Thaksin Sinawatra (Prime Minister) Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence) Gen. Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya (Minister of Defence)

STRENGTH​

Australian Signals Directorate: Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (500x Signals Intelligence Analysts) Cocos Islands Receiving Station (50x Signals Intelligence Analysts) Australian Security Intelligence Organisation: 25x ASIO Operatives monitoring Thai Embassy in Canberra

N/A

CASUALTIES AND LOSSES​

None

None

Bossza007

 

[Owen]

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Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap was at the forefront of Australia's signals intelligence network (SIGINT). It would be monitoring communications day in and day out from key targets internally and externally. The Government had decided to focus its attention on Thailand given the recent communique with the exiled Thai King explaining that things were getting interesting in Thailand. Phone calls, emails and other electronic messaging systems would be intercepted and disseminated. This was also done from a much smaller base on the West Island of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Cocos Islands Receiving Station, which was positioned close to Thailand, just across from the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Meanwhile in Canberra, ASIO had been tasked with monitoring internal communications inside Australia by Thai officials, namely from the Thai Embassy in Canberra. In an unmarked white van down on Schlich Street on the corner of Empire Circuit with a direct view of the embassy, operatives would work day and night to intercept and monitor phone calls coming out of the Thai Embassy as well as having cameras, both normal and infrared pointed at the embassy to capture the movements in and out and also inside the embassy.

Bossza007

 

[Bossza007]

Thailand has a counter-intelligence service that the NIA staff monitor all day and night. NIA counter-intelligence service has an advanced logging system and database that log every action regarding the encrypted information. The service would log any change to the original data, including the location of the connector detail. The counter-intelligence service would use the communication cipher between the Thai staff. The basic encrypted level is the Secure Encrypted method that uses three 16 digits Triple-DES keys in 56-bit format.

In the case of interception, the interceptor needs to decrypt the cipher that changes in every communication. The encryption key of the NIA Counter-Intelligence works like the password for an account. The service will log Any attempt in submitting the key to match the actual one.

Owen

 

[Owen]

Operation would be concluded due to change of allegiances.

Bossza007