Thai junta bans Tropico 5

COULD this cheeky video game “affect peace and order” in Thailand? The nation’s ruling junta thinks so.

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THAILAND’S junta has banned a computer game which allows players to craft their own military dictatorship in a fictional paradise where “sunny beaches and political corruption” coexist.

The simulation game Tropico 5 gives players the chance to build their own forms of government on a remote island.

It is sold under the tagline: “Imagine a place where the people never go hungry, all work has a decent wage and the weather is forever bright and sunny — just make sure you always vote El Presidente.”

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“Tropico 5 has been banned but I cannot give the reason unless you ask permission from our Director-General,” an unnamed official at the Video and Film Office, part of the Ministry of Culture, told AFP.

Thai game distributor New Era Interactive Media said it received a letter from the Ministry of Culture on Monday banning its sale in the kingdom.

The company’s Thai marketing manager, Nonglak Sahavattanapong, told AP the government blocked sales because they feared “some part of its content might affect peace and order in the country.”

The Ministry of Culture now falls under the remit of the Thai Navy Chief — a deputy leader of the junta — following the fall of the battered civilian administration to a May 22 army coup.

On the Tropico5.com website, the game is trailed as giving players a “land of opportunity: a blank slate where any political ideal or mad inspiration can be made possible”.

Since seizing power, Thai Army Chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha has suspended democracy, muzzled dissent and imposed sweeping curbs on media freedoms as he bids to end years of bitter political divisions.

He has launched a “return happiness” to the people public relations campaign in parallel with the crackdown on dissent.

Concerned ... Thai Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha declared martial law after months of deadly anti-government protests.

A newly-appointed national assembly will meet for the first time this week. It is charged with forging a binding constitution which analysts say is likely to target the influence of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who is accused by the Bangkok-based establishment of fomenting widespread corruption.

He was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile, but still occupies centrestage in Thailand’s political drama.

Parties led by a Shinawatra, or linked to them, have won every election since 2001.

Originally published as Thai junta bans Tropico 5