The Devil's Discus

A Thai translation of Rayne Kruger's book The Devil's Discus, an analysis of the circumstances surrounding the death of King Rama VIII, has been banned. The book was published in English in 1964, and that edition was banned in Thailand upon publication. (Sulak Sivaraksa was investigated for lèse-majesté last year, after publishing an article on Rama VIII's death.)

A Thai translation of The Devil's Discus was submitted by former Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong as evidence to support his defamation lawsuit against the newspaper Siam Rath in 1970. (Pridi, who served as Rama VIII's regent, was one of several people scapegoated for the King's unexplained shooting.) The translation was published anonymously by two Thammasat University students in 1974, and has since been distributed in various samizdat editions. It was officially banned yesterday, after more than thirty years.