"Police summoned controversial academic Giles Ji Ungpakorn for questioning on Monday in a lese majeste case. Giles, an associate professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University and the son of the late national hero Dr Puey, said he was ordered to appear at Pathumwan police station in central Bangkok at 1pm.
He said he would hold a press conference on the front steps of the station a half hour before the appointment.
In a media release, Mr Giles said he faces unspecified charges filed by Special Branch Pol Lt Col. Pansak Sasana-anund. He expects to learn details of the charges during his interview with police.He said that all of his public statements about the monarchy were available to the public, including in his book A Coup for the Rich, and at his personal website at wdpress.blog.co.uk
The book was withdrawn from sale by bookstores at both Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities, apparently because of its content.
Mr Giles, who has described himself as a Marxist, was a prominent critic of both the Sept 19, 2006, coup against ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and the running protests last year by the People's Alliance for Democracy. "Professor Ungpakorn is prepared to fight any les majesty charges in order to defend academic freedom, the freedom of expression and democracy in Thailand," said his media release on Monday.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1358...-majeste-charge
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Yet another lese majeste charge !
Started by Kirkland, Jan 12 2009 11:58 AM
11 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 12 January 2009 - 12:34 PM
Giles Ji Ungpakorn is an interesting Thai academic who has called for the abolition of lese majeste on the basis that it serves no useful purpose in a free and democratic society and has been abused by faux-monarchists as a tool to silence political opponents.
Giles is the son of a famous Thai father and British mother and is probably the only blue-eyed Thai professor at Chula. He was once quoted: "Every single day of my life in Thailand, people impress on me that I'm not Thai, something that would never happen in the West, that would be considered extremely rude in the West." http://www.thaisunday.com/news/blue_eyed_thais.shtml
His blog is decidedly left of center and his most recent book "A Coup for the Rich" has not been distributed in Thailand. He has labelled PAD as a "bunch of fascist thugs" and accused the Thai military of being complicit in PAD's occupation of Bangkok airport. He has characterized the current Abhisit government as the ilicit result of a "silent coup" organized by the various elements of the Bangkok elite. Given his high profile, it may be much more difficult for the Thai media to ignore this case as they routinely attempt to do in most lese majeste matters.
On a related matter, it's not clear what's happened to the two lese majeste charges levelled against the BBC's resident reporter, Jonathan Head. One thing's for sure: whatever happens, we're not likely to read much about them in the Bangkok Post or the Nation. What this country needs is a Thai version of the Washington Post !
Giles is the son of a famous Thai father and British mother and is probably the only blue-eyed Thai professor at Chula. He was once quoted: "Every single day of my life in Thailand, people impress on me that I'm not Thai, something that would never happen in the West, that would be considered extremely rude in the West." http://www.thaisunday.com/news/blue_eyed_thais.shtml
His blog is decidedly left of center and his most recent book "A Coup for the Rich" has not been distributed in Thailand. He has labelled PAD as a "bunch of fascist thugs" and accused the Thai military of being complicit in PAD's occupation of Bangkok airport. He has characterized the current Abhisit government as the ilicit result of a "silent coup" organized by the various elements of the Bangkok elite. Given his high profile, it may be much more difficult for the Thai media to ignore this case as they routinely attempt to do in most lese majeste matters.
On a related matter, it's not clear what's happened to the two lese majeste charges levelled against the BBC's resident reporter, Jonathan Head. One thing's for sure: whatever happens, we're not likely to read much about them in the Bangkok Post or the Nation. What this country needs is a Thai version of the Washington Post !
#3
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Posted 13 January 2009 - 11:03 AM
QUOTE
What this country needs is a Thai version of the Washington Post !
A Thai version of George Washington might be more helpful.
Hehehe....
#4
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Posted 15 January 2009 - 12:49 PM
Did you happen to see Jonathan Head's interview of the new foreign minister Kasit on the BBC ? I got the impression that Head was pitching some very softballs to the man who went from the PAD stage to being foreign minister. He let Kasit ramble on with total banalities without really addressing the serious issue of how Thailand intends to restore international credibility by its failure thus far to take any actions against PAD and its leaders in the wake of the illegal airport occupation. Head never really challenged Kasit on his PAD conections.
I couldn't help but wonder if the repeated threats to charge Head with alleged lese majeste for comments made in discussions at the foreign correspondents' meetings last year in Bangkok have not already had a chilling effect on his role as the BBC's top man in Bangkok. One can't help but wonder if his superiors at the BBC are wondering the same thing. It seem pretty clear that there's a concerted effort right now by certain folks in Thailand, regardless of what the PM says, to intimidate the press and population against criticizing certain institutions. One would hope that an organization like the BBC would not succumb to that sort of pressure.
I couldn't help but wonder if the repeated threats to charge Head with alleged lese majeste for comments made in discussions at the foreign correspondents' meetings last year in Bangkok have not already had a chilling effect on his role as the BBC's top man in Bangkok. One can't help but wonder if his superiors at the BBC are wondering the same thing. It seem pretty clear that there's a concerted effort right now by certain folks in Thailand, regardless of what the PM says, to intimidate the press and population against criticizing certain institutions. One would hope that an organization like the BBC would not succumb to that sort of pressure.
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Posted 09 February 2009 - 08:03 PM
"I did not believe I would receive a fair trial,"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/0...nd-charged-king
British professor flees Thailand after charge of insulting king
Duncan Campbell
The Guardian,
Monday 9 February 2009
A leading Bangkok-based professor who has joint British and Thai nationality fled Thailand at the weekend in the face of a lengthy sentence under the country's draconian lese-majesty laws, which forbid criticism of the king.
He is the latest person to face prosecution under the laws, seen as an attempt by the government to stifle dissent.
Giles Ji Ungpakorn, 54, arrived in England at the weekend after being charged under the laws. He had been due to present himself to the police in Bangkok today and could have faced 15 years in jail if found guilty.
"I did not believe I would receive a fair trial," said Ungpakorn, an associate professor of political science at Chulalongkom University and a contributor to the New Statesman and Asian Sentinel."
Ungpakorn, who has an English mother and son, and who studied at Sussex and Durham universities and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, is the author of A Coup for the Rich, in which he criticises the 2006 military coup.
He said that the charges arose out of eight paragraphs in the first chapter deemed insulting to King Bhumibol. He claimed that the director of a university bookshop stocking his book had informed the special branch that it "insulted the monarchy". The offending paragraphs deal with incidents around the coup.
"It is clear that the charge is really about preventing any discussion about the relationship between the military junta and the monarchy," Ungpakorn said. "This is in order to protect the military's sole claim to legitimacy: that it acted in the interests of the monarchy."
He said a website had been set up so people could inform on anyone alleged to have violated the law. "There is a climate of fear," he said.
The English chapter of PEN, the international writers' organisation, has written to Bill Rammell, the Foreign Office minister who is due to visit Thailand, urging him to make representations to the Thai government.
Carole Seymour-Jones of PEN said: "We remain deeply concerned by the increased use of lese-majesty laws in Thailand. Giles is the second New Statesman contributor to have faced such charges in recent months, the first being the Australian writer Harry Nicolaides, sentenced to three years in prison on 19 January."
Academics from the UK, India, South Africa, Turkey, France, Greece, Poland, Canada, Australia and other countries have also protested. A group, including Professor Alex Callinicos, Susan George and Dennis Brutus have signed a petition expressing "deep concern". In a letter to the Guardian recently, more than 30 academics urged that charges be dropped.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/0...nd-charged-king
British professor flees Thailand after charge of insulting king
Duncan Campbell
The Guardian,
Monday 9 February 2009
A leading Bangkok-based professor who has joint British and Thai nationality fled Thailand at the weekend in the face of a lengthy sentence under the country's draconian lese-majesty laws, which forbid criticism of the king.
He is the latest person to face prosecution under the laws, seen as an attempt by the government to stifle dissent.
Giles Ji Ungpakorn, 54, arrived in England at the weekend after being charged under the laws. He had been due to present himself to the police in Bangkok today and could have faced 15 years in jail if found guilty.
"I did not believe I would receive a fair trial," said Ungpakorn, an associate professor of political science at Chulalongkom University and a contributor to the New Statesman and Asian Sentinel."
Ungpakorn, who has an English mother and son, and who studied at Sussex and Durham universities and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, is the author of A Coup for the Rich, in which he criticises the 2006 military coup.
He said that the charges arose out of eight paragraphs in the first chapter deemed insulting to King Bhumibol. He claimed that the director of a university bookshop stocking his book had informed the special branch that it "insulted the monarchy". The offending paragraphs deal with incidents around the coup.
"It is clear that the charge is really about preventing any discussion about the relationship between the military junta and the monarchy," Ungpakorn said. "This is in order to protect the military's sole claim to legitimacy: that it acted in the interests of the monarchy."
He said a website had been set up so people could inform on anyone alleged to have violated the law. "There is a climate of fear," he said.
The English chapter of PEN, the international writers' organisation, has written to Bill Rammell, the Foreign Office minister who is due to visit Thailand, urging him to make representations to the Thai government.
Carole Seymour-Jones of PEN said: "We remain deeply concerned by the increased use of lese-majesty laws in Thailand. Giles is the second New Statesman contributor to have faced such charges in recent months, the first being the Australian writer Harry Nicolaides, sentenced to three years in prison on 19 January."
Academics from the UK, India, South Africa, Turkey, France, Greece, Poland, Canada, Australia and other countries have also protested. A group, including Professor Alex Callinicos, Susan George and Dennis Brutus have signed a petition expressing "deep concern". In a letter to the Guardian recently, more than 30 academics urged that charges be dropped.
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure."
Bette Davis
Bette Davis
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Posted 09 February 2009 - 09:04 PM
In conjunction with his flight from Thailand, Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn has apparently issued a defiant document called the "Red Siam Manifesto," which one Thai website has described as "so strong, one of the strongest statements made by an identifiable Thai individual in decades, that we have to censor parts of it " for fear of being charged with lese majeste.
The Manifesto is already available on the internet through any search engine from sites apparently originating from outside Thailand. It would be inappropriate to directly link any of those sites here in view of our rules prohibiting the posting of materials that "may constitute lese majeste under Thai law."
It will be interesting to see how the Bangkok newspapers handle the professor's flight and the Manifesto, if at all.
The Manifesto is already available on the internet through any search engine from sites apparently originating from outside Thailand. It would be inappropriate to directly link any of those sites here in view of our rules prohibiting the posting of materials that "may constitute lese majeste under Thai law."
It will be interesting to see how the Bangkok newspapers handle the professor's flight and the Manifesto, if at all.
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Posted 09 February 2009 - 09:28 PM
He was seen at the last UDD rally. I wonder if he will start an anti PAD, anti government movement in London, with money coming from Hong Kong.
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure."
Bette Davis
Bette Davis
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Posted 09 February 2009 - 10:05 PM
QUOTE(Hedda @ Feb 9 2009, 09:04 PM) 
In conjunction with his flight from Thailand, Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn has apparently issued a defiant document called the "Red Siam Manifesto," which one Thai website has described as "so strong, one of the strongest statements made by an identifiable Thai individual in decades, that we have to censor parts of it " for fear of being charged with lese majeste.
OMG, I've just read it; it's all that and more! He didn't mince his words AT ALL, in Thai and English. They're going to shoot him. RIP, Giles.
"I was thought to be 'stuck up.' I wasn't. I was just sure of myself. This is and always has been an unforgivable quality to the unsure."
Bette Davis
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 07:32 AM
It certainly is strong stuff. I noticed that The Nation has reported his flight to the UK but only this about his Manifesto:
"The 54-year-old political scientist, who holds dual Thai and British nationality, posted a strongly worded four-page letter on the Internet in which he called for greater freedom of expression."
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/10...cs_30095298.php
"The 54-year-old political scientist, who holds dual Thai and British nationality, posted a strongly worded four-page letter on the Internet in which he called for greater freedom of expression."
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/10...cs_30095298.php
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 09:24 AM
It seems that the campaign to charge all sorts of people with lese majeste is back-firing into releasing a torrent of criticism against the very institution that lese majeste is supposed to be protecting. The witch hunts and the Economist articles they prompted look like they have open the floodgates to something the Bangkok elite never imagined could happen.
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 12:42 PM
QUOTE
The witch hunts and the Economist articles they prompted look like they have open the floodgates to something the Bangkok elite never imagined could happen.
With news like this, it looks like another week without The Economist.
Hehehe.....
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Posted 10 February 2009 - 05:58 PM
In view of the extraordinary content of the "Red Siam Manifesto," particularly as it relates to matters prohibited under Thai criminal laws, and its ready availability through internet search engines, we ask that members refrain from posting any direct link to the document on this board. Thanks for your cooperation.
