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

Thai monarchy The monarchy of Thailand is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government of Thailand (formerly ''Siam''). The king of Thailand (, historically, ''king of Siam''; ) is the head of state and head of the ruling Chakri dynasty. ...

. He currently resides in Japan as a political exile. He has been teaching at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University since 2012.

Career

Pavin received his bachelor's degree from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

in 1993 and his doctorate from

SOAS The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) 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 area ...

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

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

for sixteen years, then as a political science academic, and he is currently a professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies,

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

, 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), ''Coup, King, Crisis: A Critical Interregnum in Thailand'' (2020), and ''Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn,'' (2023), which has been banned by the Thai police even before it was published.

Education

Pavin graduated with an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

in Bachelor of Arts (

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

) in International Relations from

in 1993. He received his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from

in 2002.

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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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 remaine ...

''. 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 ...

, 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, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état, the twelfth since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government follow ...

, 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 to meet with junta leader General

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; , ; born 21 March 1954) is a former Thai politician, army officer and dictator who became the 29th prime minister of Thailand after seizing power in the 2014 Thai coup d'état, 2014 coup ...

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 a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

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 Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or Computer network, networks. It has been variously defined as "a crime committed on a computer network, especially the Internet"; Cyberc ...

. 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