All posts by Pavin Chachavalpongpun

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is associate professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. Since the coup of 2014 in Thailand, Pavin was summoned twice for his criticial views of the monarchy and the military. He rejected the summons. As a result, the Thai junta issued a warrant for his arrest and revoked his passport, forcing him to apply for a refugee with Japan.

Like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, Thailand’s regime hunts down its opponents around the world

What is happening to dissidents in Thailand must be exposed and discussed within the context of the ruthless tactics adopted by the despotic regimes of China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. It is time that the West sees the true nature of the Thai monarchy: a despotic regime that harasses, threatens, and kills its critics.

/ April 5, 2021

สมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข–ขอให้ศาลตัดสินโทษประหารชีวิตเพื่อยุติปัญหาทั้งหมด

จุดมุ่งหมายของบทความนี้ก็เพื่อต้องการให้สังคมไทยลุกขึ้นมาเรียกร้องความยุติธรรมให้คุณสมยศ และผู้ต้องหามาตรา 112 คนอื่นๆ องค์กร FORSEA สนับสนุนอิสรภาพของคุณสมยศ และผู้นำการประท้วงคนอื่น และขอประนามการกระทำของรัฐไทยในกรณีคุณสมยศ และเรียกร้องให้มีการยกเลิกกฎหมายอาญามาตรา 112 โดยเร็ว

/ March 30, 2021

Thai Royalty Attack on Exiled Critic

In cyberspace, the Thai Palace and its proxies are taking an aggressive approach. But this approach will eventually be counterproductive, since social media users today, mostly in their youths, have access to alternative information about the monarchy and refuse to be “brainwashed” by the state, like their predecessors.

/ December 2, 2020

The Thai King Sends Messages Presaging Conflict in Thailand

Three months have passed and the protests in Thailand have intensified. One of the main messages of the demonstrations has become clear—the protesters believe the monarchy is in need of immediate reform. In just three months, Thais have repeatedly stretched the boundaries of what is acceptable to discuss in public—and at large gatherings—regarding the monarchy.

/ October 29, 2020

What Now for Thailand’s Protests?

Now that core leaders of the protests are in custody, the authorities are ramping up their suppression of demonstrators, and the possibility of life imprisonment has been mooted, it seems hard to imagine where this movement goes from here.

/ October 21, 2020

‘We are not dust, we are human beings’: The message for the next protest this month in Bangkok

Thai student protests are not just to shame the government, they also wanted to reform the monarchy – a long-held taboo in the Land of Smiles. The demand for immediate monarchical reform is now an official objective of the protesters.

/ October 4, 2020
Bangkok Thai Student Protests August 2020 FORSEA

Deep Dish: Thailand’s Youth Demand Democratic Reforms

Thai society needs to be able to speak openly now about the role of the monarchy. For decades, the Thai monarchy has dominated the Thai political space, firmly supported by the military.

/ August 28, 2020
Facebook blocks royalist marketplace in Thailand FORSEA

Facebook Cultivates Authoritarianism in Thailand: It blocks access to “Royalists Marketplace” group

The Royalists Marketplace stands for freedom of expression. Crude censorship from the Thai government crushes the freedoms that Thais are entitled to. In blocking the page, Facebook is cooperating with the authoritarian regime in obstructing democracy and cultivating authoritarianism in Thailand.

/ August 25, 2020
What's behind the Thai student protests 2020

Call for Urgent Monarchical Reform is behind the 2020 Thai Student Protests

The student gatherings at the Democracy Monument and at Thammasat University in August were a turning point in the course of the ongoing protests in Thailand. Calls are now being made for an immediate reform of the monarchical institution to locate back into the constitutional framework.

/ August 16, 2020

COVID-19 Attacks the Regime: The Case of Thailand

The failure of the Thai government takes many forms. Ex-generals occupying top political positions whose frame of thought is confined within their military expertise were not the right people to lead the country against this non-traditional threat.

/ August 5, 2020