Biothai Foundation has asked police to investigate the hacking of its computer database which it says is aimed at trying to destroy the non-profit organisation over a dispute involving jasmine rice.
Kingkorn Narintarakul, a deputy director of Biothai, said the database contained important information about Thai biological resources that it has developed over five years.
Biothai, which investigates indigenous biodiversity protection, yesterday filed a complaint with police, saying the attack began on July 5 and persisted until July 8, significantly damaging its online database.
The latest attack was the third and worst since hackers intruded into the core of the computer server of (www.biothai.net), the site's webmaster Kwanchai Muanying said.
"We believe the three attacks have been committed by the same group of people and are aimed at destroying our organisation," he said.
Ms Kingkorn said the latest attack came after Biothai launched a public campaign over the National Science and Technology Development Agency's (NSTDA) recent patenting of genes that generate aroma in the world-famous jasmine rice, or Hom Mali.
The foundation believes the patenting could be a double-edged sword because it has shown that Thailand has accepted the patenting of living organisms.
In the past, Thailand had opposed the patenting of living organisms.
If Thai scientists patent rice genes, foreigners, particularly biotechnology and agricultural giants, could apply for patents of other genes and living organisms.
The attacks came after Biothai started to make significant moves to divulge some inconvenient facts about the tinkering with the rice genes last year, she said.
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