Matt Crook – who runs the “inadvertently offensive” Lost Boy blog – has recently removed a comment from his site because of pressure from the Thai Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.

He writes:

The post itself was was only two days old, which shows you just how vigorously the Internet is monitored. It was my fault for letting the comment slip through. There are certain subjects that just cannot be addressed without serious repercussions.

If the MICT had called me out on any other topic then it would be another issue, but this is one thing that has to be respected, regardless of what people’s opinions are.

Has anyone else ever been contacted by the MICT about the content of a blog post?

His report of this incident has generated a number of incredulous comments from readers who doubt that the government is watching his site that closely. It generally steers well clear of some of the controversial material that, say, a New Mandala is happy to host.

Interested readers will find the original, “offending” post here (but with all the comments deleted).

What do New Mandala readers think? Was this call from the Ministry just a well-executed hoax? Or is there really some part of the Thai bureaucracy encouraging webmasters to delete “offensive” comments about royal wardrobes? And with such speed and efficiency?