ECONOMIST ASIA EDITOR SPEAKS OUT

The UK's Index on Censorship website carried a guest post earlier this week from Simon Long, Asia Editor of The Economist, in which he wrote about the recent non-distribution of the magazine in Thailand. It's well worth a read.
In the post Simon says: "Not to write about the role of the royal family in Thai politics, and to question the uses to which the lèse-majesté laws are put by self-serving politicians, is a dereliction of journalistic duty. That to do so may break Thai law, and - worse still - offend many Thais is unfortunate and upsetting. But if we want to help non-Thais understand what is going on in that wonderful country, it is unavoidable."
So while understand the stories may offend and upset his magazine's Thai readers he's basically saying it doesn't matter. I also find it amazing that someone in such a high profile position cares so little for the rule of law in a country in which his magazine derives a pretty decent income.
Simon goes on to cite examples of other countries that have problems with what his magazine publishes. He says: "China’s government still sometimes removes copies from the shelves or rips pages out when it does not like the contents. Even India, so proud of its democracy, holds up every edition that contains a map showing big chunks of Kashmir in Pakistan. The distributor has to deface every single map with a rubber stamp, so that Indian readers know the actual external boundaries of their country as portrayed in The Economist are ‘neither correct nor authentic’. But at least the issue gets through in the end. Maybe Thailand needs lèse-majesté rubber stamps."