Thailand’s junta has banned a computer game that allows players to craft their own military dictatorship in a fictional paradise where “sunny beaches and political corruption” coexist, authorities said yesterday.
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.”
“Tropico 5 has been banned, but I cannot give the reason unless you ask permission from our director-general,” said an unnamed official at the Video and Film Office, part of the Thai Ministry of Culture.
Thai game distributor New Era Interactive Media said it received a letter from the ministry on Monday banning its sale in the kingdom.
New Era Interactive Media marketing manager Nonglak Sahavattanapong said late on Monday it was “disappointed” by the move to ban the game, made by Bulgarian game developer Haemimont.
She said it had been blocked “because some parts of stories within the game affect Thailand’s situation.”
She did not give further details of the offending storylines, but said “players can play roles as a leader of a country — they can choose systems of how to run the country.”
The ministry now falls under the remit of the Thai navy chief — a deputy leader of the junta — following the May 22 army coup.
On the Tropico5.com Web site, 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, Royal Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has suspended democracy, muzzled dissent and imposed sweeping curbs on media freedoms as he bids to end years of bitter political divisions.
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