Attorney General drops lèse-majesté case against US academic

Thailand’s Office of the Attorney General has announced it will not proceed with the prosecution of university academic Dr Paul Chambers, a political scientist and United States citizen accused of defaming the monarchy under the country’s strict lèse-majesté law.

The decision issued on 1 May follows weeks of uncertainty surrounding Chambers, a lecturer at Thailand’s Naresuan University and the first foreign academic in years to face charges under the country’s Article 112, which criminalises insults to the monarchy and can carry up to 15 years in prison.

The case, initiated by the Thai security authority, stemmed from allegations that Chambers had published a statement deemed offensive to the monarchy via Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute website, which police claimed “falsely” attributed influence over military appointments to the Thai King.

Chambers is also charged under the Computer Crimes Act, frequently used alongside Section 112 to penalise online content. However, the prosecutors ruled that his actions did not meet the legal threshold to constitute both accusations.

Chambers initially reported to police on 8 April, following an arrest warrant issued by Phitsanulok Provincial Court.

According to local news agency Prachatai, Chambers denied writing or administering the text, stating he had no control over the webpage. He was briefly detained, denied bail twice, and had his Thai visa revoked. He was later released but remained under investigation until the Attorney General’s decision was made public this week.

Chamber’s legal team said the Attorney General’s decision underscored how weak the case against Dr Chambers truly was. “What is surprising is that the case was allowed to drag on for so long in the first place,” Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, advocacy lead at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, told University World News.

Speculation over link to US tariff talks

The decision not to prosecute Chambers came amid speculation of diplomatic manoeuvring. Dr Fuadi Pitsuwan, a political scientist at Thammasat University, Bangkok, pointed to a widely held belief that the United States may have made the release of Chambers an informal precondition for trade dialogue with Thailand after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs of 36% on Thailand’s exports to the US.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra publicly cited the case as one of the likely reasons for the Thai-US tariff talks that had been set for 23 April being deferred indefinitely.

“There is a credible belief, hinted at by Thaksin Shinawatra – the politically influential father of the current Thai prime minister (Paetongtarn Shinawatra) – that the United States has set certain conditions for the Thai delegation to secure an appointment to discuss tariff issues with the US Trade Representative (USTR),” Fuadi told University World News.

“What we know for certain is that the US government has been following this case very closely. However, whether this is indeed one of the preconditions for the Thai team to begin formal tariff negotiations will likely never be officially confirmed,” said Fuadi.

Earlier this week, before the Attorney General’s decision, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai insisted the prosecution of Chambers would not affect trade talks with the US. He told Thai media the US had not set any conditions and had not indicated how it expects Thailand to handle the matter.

He added that Thaksin Shinawatra’s remarks suggesting the prosecution could affect tariff talks merely reflected Shinawatra’s personal opinion.

Major General Thammanoon Maison, spokesperson for the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), the body responsible for internal security, on 29 April denied any links between the case and trade talks, saying earlier that the timing of the charge was “purely coincidental”.

In comments to Thai media, he said ISOC was “duty-bound to protect national institutions and take legal action against any act by Thais or foreigners deemed as offending royalty”.

The military has insisted Thai law applies to everyone within Thailand’s borders and there would be “no exceptions”.

‘Not a clear victory’

Civil society groups and academic networks, including the American Political Science Association, Scholars at Risk (SAR), and 112WATCH, raised concerns over the charges against Chambers, warning it could have a chilling effect on scholars researching sensitive political topics in Thailand.

SAR told University World News it welcomed the news of the charges being dropped, saying: “Thailand’s lèse-majesté law is one of several opaque and overly broad such statutes worldwide – including blasphemy, civil and criminal defamation, sedition, espionage, national security, and terrorism – that make illegal the mere expression of opinions or ideas on certain topics, without any link to violent or otherwise criminal acts or intentions whatsoever.

“These laws curb academic freedom and must be repealed or severely amended across the globe to protect open inquiry and innovation.”

However, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, founder of 112WATCH, a civil society group that monitors the application of Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, warned in a Facebook post that the decision was not a clear victory.

“Like other cases, the damage has already been done. Now that he [Chambers] knows he is being watched, he will have to be extremely cautious in his future writings on the military.” He suggested Chambers may need to file a countersuit in order to obtain justice.

Since 2020, over 270 people have been charged under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, with more than 130 cases remaining without convictions, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

Prosecutors have dropped the case, but police may still appeal. Chambers’ visa remains revoked, though his legal team has filed an appeal against the decision.