ECONOMIST CALLS FOR LAW TO BE LIFTED
In an online article The Economist has called for Thailand's strict lese-majeste law to be lifted.
"Because of this law, last week’s issue of The Economist was not distributed in Thailand. In our extended discussion of the royal succession , we ran the risk of causing an “injured majesty” or laesa maiestas. Succession aside, we tried to make another point, through our accompanying leader article. : this is no way to have a conversation about such a serious matter."
In calling for readers to comment the story concludes: "We hold that Thailand's lese-majeste laws should be lifted. They harm the country itself; on those grounds they should be removed."
Since my story last week I have had a number of emails from subscribers in Thailand who are, frankly, fed up with having the magazine withheld from distribution each time there is anything remotely controversial about the kingdom. The publisher extends subscriptions by one issue each time it happens but I'm aware of at least five readers who will not be renewing their subscriptions to The Economist.
1 comments:
The irony is that if you want a copy of this week's edition of the Economist it is freely available to download on rapidshare (both audio and pdf). By self-censoring their own publication so often in Thailand the Economist loses out on potential new subscribers - I haven't subscribed for this reason.
Also, attempts by MICT and other government departments to stifle opinion by restricting access to websites or banning the distribution of publications like the Economist are entirely wasted, since technology is always going to be one step ahead of them. For example, many websites cannot be accessed through a browser but their RSS feeds are still freely available - which is how most intelligent people would read blogs anyway.
If Thailand is so sensitive to opinion perhaps the government should consider shutting down the entire internet and media. Just have one "official" newspaper and TV channel.
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