Far East Economic Review publishers Dow Jones have apologised to the Thai people and parliament for "any offence" felt by their small "Intelligence" item published recently. It also stated that "...The King commands our admiration as a symbol of Thai sovereignty and for his many good works and exemplary leadership of the Thai people..."

My recent column suggested that FEER's sin was to keep alive an embarassing modest criticism of Thaksin's management style by the King of Thailand.

Yeterday, an editorial in another Dow Jones publication - the Asian Wall Street Journal was scathing in its criticism for Thai PM Thaksin. It accused Thaksin of "deflecting attention away from his own troubles", and also reiterated our comparison here with the Malaysian approach to alien analysis... - "This is a familiar if dreary political tactic, used in Asia by the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad"

The AWSJ spin gains more credibility in the wake of suggestions that behind the scenes Thaksin had engaged lobbyists to "soften" the Review's coverage of Thailand, highlighted in Thai newspapers on the weekend.

Meanwhile the center-left leaning English magazine The Economist was forced to withdraw from distribution in Thailand the latest issue which included a substantial "Thailand Survey", in order to avoid the sort of FEER/Thailand political elite bun-fight outlined above. If you are in Thailand, no problem - click on the link above...

You will find the article is pretty tame. The current debate, as the AWSJ suggests, revolves more around Thakin's refusal to entertain criticism or analysis from others than the freedom of the press, national security nor the role of the Royalty.

Now back to work everyone...