Hari Ini noted several years back that during one of the frequent periods in which the Malaysian government banned distribution in Malaysia of the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Malaysia Airlines inflight magazine continued to boast that it provided the FEER complimentary to all business class passengers, spinning it as the world's leading Asian news analysis magazine.

History repeated itself this week, up North in Thailand, where the publishers of the Economist recently withdrew a copy of an issue including a major "Thailand Survey" article following veiled threats from politicians and censorship authorities and the hulabaloo over the 100 word FEER item which almost resulted in the revokation of the visas of two journalists. Subsequently, the Economist was pressured to remove the article from their Web site as well.

With credit to the Bangkok Post, they note in their Sunday edition today...

...There is always one group that never gets the word. The smooth, silky national airline sent out a lovely announcement to all members of the Royal Orchid Plus club for frequent flyers. Thailand is part of a globalised world economy, Thai Airways International noted. THAI passengers should be well informed, and here's how: "You'll find The Economist offers invaluable insights and independent analysis of events affecting Asia and the rest of the world."...

Seems the government - majority owner of Thai International - is not quite as impressed by independent analysis and invaluable insights as THAI itself.