THAILAND is in the final stretch of a nail-biting election campaign, with only three days to go. A surge in support for the opposition party, led by the sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister, has alarmed the ruling party and its military pals. What better time, then, to publish a book-length online exposé of the “invisible hand” in Thai politics? Armed with a trove of leaked American cables, a British journalist has done just that. The first two parts of his tale, entitled “Thaistory”, are available via his website. A third installment is promised shortly, with a final chapter to follow.
In American political parlance, such an exposé released on the eve of an election might be hailed as an “October surprise”. After all, most news channels love chewing on political conspiracies. But this one has proved far too hot to handle for Thailand’s media. For all the online traffic and Twitter exchanges that “Thaistory” has generated, it has been studiously ignored by Thailand’s mainstream media. Government censors have begun to block access to the story.
Full story: WikiLeaks roils the royals