By Graham K. Rogers

Those who watched the last World Cup could not have failed to notice the sound and presence of the vuvuzela a long horn with a loud single note. Anyone following events in Thailand of late might also have noticed the blasts from whistles which drown out speakers and are supposed to be an indication of the user's democratic wishes.

Of course, there is now an app for it. Whistle for Thai, developed by the Innovation Plus Company, is a free app with a neat icon. Although the text is mainly in Thai, the main display of a whistle needs little understanding. Press the whistle image and there is a sound.

To show its democratic intentions, the app is coloured red, white and blue. A slider at the side adjusts the volume from zero up to a level which would not be considered dangerous.

A counter in the blue stripe near the top of the screen appears to indicate how many times it has been downloaded (196,972 krang). Below the whistle image is a link to allow the user to post on a Facebook page. I did not try this; nor did I allow the Location access that the app requested.

It is there; it is free; it is simple; use carefully.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand where he is also Assistant Dean. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.