Thai police yesterday summoned an American academic to face charges of insulting the monarchy, a rare case of a foreign national being charged under the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste law.
The army filed a complaint against Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in northern Thailand and an authority on the kingdom’s politics, over comments he made in an online discussion.
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family are protected from criticism by the lese-majeste law, with each offense punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Photo: Reuters
Charges under the law have increased dramatically in recent years and critics say it is misused to stifle legitimate debate.
According to a police summons dated yesterday, Chambers is accused of “insulting or showing malice towards the king, queen, heir to the throne, or regent,” as well as “introducing counterfeit computer data that could threaten national security.”
Chambers told reporters that the charge stems from remarks he made during a webinar last year in which he discussed the relationship between the Thai military and the monarchy during a question-and-answer session.
“I believe I’m the first non-Thai in years to face this charge,” he said by telephone.
He said that while he felt “intimidated” by the situation, he was being supported by the US embassy and colleagues at the university.
Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch told reporters that police in Phitsanulok Province agreed not to detain Chambers immediately. Instead, he has been summoned to formally acknowledge the charge at a police station on Tuesday.
Phitsanulok Police did not comment about the case when contacted by reporters.
The royal defamation law, known as 112 from the relevant article of Thailand’s criminal code, has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its broad interpretation and harsh penalties. International watchdogs have expressed concern over its increasing use against academics, rights advocates and even students.
Charges under 112 grew sharply in the wake of youth-led protests in 2020 that called for reforms to the monarchy’s role in public life.
One man in northern Thailand was jailed for at least 50 years for lese-majeste last year, while a woman was handed a 43-year sentence in 2021.
In 2023 a man was jailed for two years for selling satirical calendars featuring rubber ducks that a court said defamed the king.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of