To my astonishment I recently learnt of the ban of a book on Thai democracy, written by  Sulak Sivaraksa, the Thai scholar and laureate of the Right Livelihood Award.

This shows again the weakness of democratic reform, and the abuse of power of the interim government. Preventing fellow Thai nationals accessing information on the rise and fall of Thai democracy just before an upcoming election magnifies their grasp of Thailand at large.

Do the coup leaders of this country and the military junta in neighboring Burma have something in common?

The self interest of cross-border multi million Baht gas contracts between the two countries seems paramount to the innumerable cases of human rights abuse, forced labour and ethnic cleansing in Burma. Or are these more fabrications from the western media as some politicians have stated?

The three absolutes the generals and their powerful bureaucrats in both countries share is the incapacity to listen to their citizens,  a phobia of criticism, and the fear of free speech and exchange of ideas. Are we to be censored and controlled forever?

When will those generals and bureaucrats overcome fortune tellers and start to listen to what's around them?

Shouldn't a future democratically elected government review the constitution of a democratic society with equal rights to freedom of speech and information while taking into account the innumerable coups d' etat the Thai people have witnessed over the last sixty years? The banning of Sulak Sivaraksa’s book is another triumph for the wheels of political Dhama in this land.

The two dimensional era of Thai politics has to end or Thailand has no future. Clinging to power and insular fragmentary politics reminds me of my own country Germany before the walls of freedom opened to us once more.

The only thing history teaches us is that history has varying speeds of repeating itself.

T.W.