Topics closer to home could lose letter writers their home

Donald Graber makes a valid point in his letter: why do we Have Your Sayers rarely pick up on major concerns in Thailand?
We are treading on a very thin line here, Donald, and I would suggest it’s for two reasons. First, our present paranoid and insecure government has little tolerance for criticism and has put in place a plethora of laws that put people in prison for publishing or even “liking” critical material. 
This is the mark of a government that is failing to accede to the people’s wishes, but is really no different from the incompetent, malicious and ideology-driven regimes in Britain, Sweden and Western Europe that are introducing ever more Orwellian laws to criminalise speech. Witness the “Day for Freedom” protest rally in London last Sunday, which was attended by thousands (and, as one comes to expect, ignored by the establishment media).
The second reason is “face”. The Thai establishment elite snowflakes in positions of authority – whether in government, politics, the military or business – have no stomach for criticism. If you upset the wrong people, strings are pulled at a high level and a foreigner might find himself on the dreaded Immigration Department black list, or on the receiving end of defamation and damages lawsuits.
So I suspect there’s a degree of self-censorship on this page. Should we write about disappearing plaques, wristwatches, nepotism in the military, labour abuse, dead leopards and 30-per-cent kickbacks on public projects? Nah! Let’s stick to Trump, Horace Beasley’s sexual exploits and meat-eating. It’s safer.
Nigel Pike