HAS THE ECONOMIST BEEN BANNED?

Bangkok Pundit and Thailand Jumped The Shark both have stories about a story in The Economist this week that, diplomatically speaking, looks at the role of the monarchy in Thailand's recent past. The story is here and an editorial can be found here.
I had an email from a regular reader of The Bangkok Bugle who is also a subscriber to The Economist. For the second week running, they have received an email apologising for logistics delays that have prevented the magazine from distributing in Thailand. The email says: "Priority has been extended, understandably, to relocating passengers over freight". So this week's edition of The Economist will not appear in Thailand, either for the reasons stated by the publisher or for other reasons.
With such a clear headline it's possible those involved in the distribution or selling of the magazine may have taken their own decision to decline to handle it this week (as opposed to any Government order), but I think if the magazine has been banned the publisher will want the world to know. After all that's one of the points behind the articles. I also wonder if those Thailand-based advertisers that regularly appear in the magazine, such as Thai Airways and PTT, will get refunds for the past two weeks?
Some comments on the posts on the websites above talk about the article being translated and republished on Thai language websites. It's true that more people will read the translated story than the English original, but that doesn't stop the fact that republishing the translation is a breach of copyright, although I suspect The Economist will not complain on this occasion. If you want the Thai language rights to content from The Economist you can expect to pay a significant amount. More than two years ago I looked at it but the costs were astronomical. There isn't a single Thai publisher that could make it work, in my view.
If you happen to see a copy of this edition inside Thailand please let me know.

UPDATE: Sunday, 2.20pm.
I have not been able to find any copies of The Economist edition in question, although I did see the new Asia editions of both Time and Newsweek which would cast doubt on the reason given by The Economist for its non appearance in Thailand this week.

UPDATE: Sunday, 7.20pm.
I've written a lot in the past about licensing, syndication and copyright issues. In this situation there are a number of translations of The Economist articles appearing on Thai language websites. The Economist has content syndication agreements for its content in more than 50 countries and in 25 languages around the world. It doesn't have one for Thai as far as I am aware, but that doesn't alter the fact that publication of a word-for-word translation is a breach of copyright.
For a bit more on syndication and licensing of The Economist click here.