BANGKOK: A prominent American academic was detained on Tuesday (Apr 8) and charged with insulting Thailand’s monarchy, his lawyer told AFP, in a rare case of a foreign national falling foul of the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste law.
Paul Chambers, who has spent more than a decade teaching Southeast Asia politics in Thailand, is in pre-trial detention awaiting a decision on his bail request, lawyer Wannaphat Jenroumjit said.
“He denied the charge,” Wannaphat told AFP.
Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family are protected from criticism by the lese-majeste law, with each offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
The Thai military filed a complaint earlier this year against Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in northern Thailand, over an article linked to an online discussion.
Chambers is also a visiting fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a research institute in Singapore.
According to media reports, Chambers is accused of publishing a blurb on the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute website in connection with an ISEAS webinar in Oct 2024 about military reshuffles.
CNA has contacted ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute for more information.
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