Pavin Chachavalpongpun ( th, ปวิน ชัชวาลพงศ์พันธ์; ; born 4 March 1971) is a Thai scholar notable for his criticism of the

Thai monarchy The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the c ...

. He currently resides in Japan as a political exile.

Career

Pavin received his bachelor's degree from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...

in 1993 and his doctorate from

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

in 2002. He worked as a diplomat in Thailand's

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

for thirteen years, then as a political science academic, and he is currently a professor at

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

, where he is editor-in-chief of its Center for Southeast Asian Studies' ''Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia''. He is the author of several books including ''A Plastic Nation: The Curse of Thainess in Thai-Burmese Relations'' (2005), ''Reinventing Thailand: Thaksin and His Foreign Policy'' (2010), and ''Coup, King, Crisis: A Critical Interregnum in Thailand'' (2020).

Criticism of the Thai monarchy

Pavin is a well-known critic of the

and the state of Thai politics more generally. He regularly gives lectures and writes articles, books and opinion editorials on these topics for outlets such as ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

''. He supported reforms of the monarchy and the country's lèse majesté law. In 2011, he launched a campaign to free a political prisoner,

Ah Kong Ah Kong () was an organised crime and drugs syndicate that used to extensively control the European heroin trade in the 1970s to 1990s. Originating from Singapore, it was one of the world's largest drug syndicates, having been mainly based in Ams ...

, who was charged with lèse majesté for allegedly sending text messages which insulted the monarchy to an unknown person. After the

2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), launched a coup d'état, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government of Thailand, foll ...

, the junta ordered him to turn himself in, but he refused and even mocked the summons by asking if he could send his pet

chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

to meet with junta leader General

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...

in his stead. On 13 June 2014, the NCPO issued an arrest warrant against Pavin, and he has lived in exile ever since. His current residence is in Kyoto, Japan. In July 2019, he was apparently assaulted near his residence, in an incident allegedly linked to the Thai authorities. In 2020, he launched a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page "The Royalists Marketplace" as a forum to discuss and criticize the Thai monarchy freely. The Thai authorities successfully took action to shut down access to the Facebook page, which has accumulated around one million users, and which

may be appealing, while Pavin is facing a charge of

cybercrime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing the ...

. He has since launched a replacement Facebook page "The Royalists Marketplace-Talad Luang". A Facebook spokesperson stated, “Requests like this are severe, contravene international human rights law, and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves... We work to protect and defend the rights of all internet users and are preparing to legally challenge this request.”

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chachavalpongpun, Pavin 1971 births Academic staff of Kyoto University Alumni of SOAS University of London Pavin Chachavalpongpun Living people Pavin Chachavalpongpun Refugees in Japan Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pavin Chachavalpongpun