Thailand bans textbook on national security grounds - Bangkok Post

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Professor of Regional Studies and Comparative Politics the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies at Kyoto University in Japan. (Photo: Pavin Chachavalpongpun) Thailand has banned a textbook about the country on national security grounds, with the book’s exiled editor saying on Thursday that it was outlawed over its content on the monarchy.

The book, a second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Thailand, published in English in August, was edited by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a prominent academic and critic of the monarchy who is based in Japan.

It contains chapters on Thailand’s monarchy in the 21st century and the government’s use of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law.

An order signed by National Police Chief Samran Nualma and released on Wednesday said the book includes articles that “adversely affect national security and might cause unrest in the country”.

Its content also “affects the security of the kingdom, public order or the good morals of the people”, the order said.

Police have the authority to seize and destroy the book, it added.

Anyone found guilty of importing or distributing the book faces imprisonment of up to three years, a maximum fine of 60,000 baht or both.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr Pavin said the book was banned “because it is packed with material on the monarchy”.

In a separate post, he thanked the Royal Thai Police for helping promote the book.

“In the era of social media and the internet, a ban like this doesn’t work,” he wrote. “People might just skip the hard copy and get an ebook.”

In 2023, his book, Rama X: The Thai Monarchy under King Vajiralongkorn, published by Yale University Southeast Asia Studies, was banned in a similar fashion.

A 2023 police order said the book’s cover and content reflected “the attitude of the author, deemed insulting to the Thai monarchy, and threatened the peace and good morality of the people”.

Mr Pavin, 55, worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 16 years before starting his academic career.

Following the 2014 military coup, he refused a summons from the junta, leading to an arrest warrant, the revocation of his passport, and accusations of lèse-majesté. He has lived in exile in Kyoto since that time.

In July this year, Thai authorities formally expanded Section 112 proceedings involving the “Royalist Marketplace-Talad Luang” Facebook group, naming Mr Pavin as one of the accused in connection with posts in the group.

Under the lese-majeste law, anyone convicted of insulting, defaming or threatening the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent can face a prison sentence of between three and 15 years per offence.