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Bangkok Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
SRT row over revoking land titles risks state payouts
A legal expert has warned that revoking land titles in the long-standing Khao Kradong dispute in Buri Ram may require the state to compensate lawful landholders. Akenarong Cherdpan, a provincial public prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney-General, said the conflict involves more than 5,083 rai of land claimed by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) under a royal decree issued during King Rama VI's reign. The dispute began when 35 residents occupying 170 rai sought title deeds in 2011. The SRT contested their claims, and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favour of the state agency, ordering the eviction of those residents. Following the ruling, the SRT tried to use the decision to annul more than 995 titles, now held by individuals and private entities, including the Chidchob family, who are linked to the opposition Bhumjaithai Party. A source says the Chidchob family owns about 288 rai of the disputed land, held under the names of individuals and companies such as K Motorsport Co Ltd, which runs a sports arena; K 2009 Lease Co Ltd, which manages the Chang Arena football stadium; and Buriram United Sport Hotel Co Ltd, which runs a hotel. When the Bhumjaithai Party headed the Interior Ministry, the Department of Lands (DoL) questioned the reliability of the SRT's reference maps, some of which may have been updated in 1996 and were inconsistent with the original decree, the source said. The SRT, under the Transport Ministry and led by the Pheu Thai Party, filed a lawsuit against the DoL in 2023 at the Administrative Court, seeking the revocation of 995 land titles and the awarding of compensation. The court ruled the DoL should set up a probe committee, but did not order the direct cancellation of the titles. Mr Akenarong said the DoL set up the committee, which found the SRT's maps remained unreliable, and ordered the case closed in 2024. The SRT then took two further actions: refiling with the Administrative Court to overturn the closure order, and submitting cases to the Office of the Attorney-General to sue individual landowners for title revocation. After Phumtham Wechayachai, of Pheu Thai, took over as Interior Minister from Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul, the ministry reopened the matter and instructed the DoL to revoke titles for plots that could be verified, based on earlier joint surveys with the SRT. "If the DoL follows this approach, landowners will resist. They argue the Supreme Court ruling applies only to the 35 cases and cannot be extended, while the SRT maps cannot be confirmed as legally valid under the royal decree. This could trigger further lawsuits, delaying resolution for years," Mr Akenarong said.
Saudi Gazette
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Thai prosecutors drop case against US academic accused of insulting royalty
BANGKOK — Thai prosecutors have said they will not pursue charges against an American academic who was arrested last month under a strict law against defaming the monarchy. Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University, was arrested after the army filed a complaint against him. On Thursday, prosecutors said they would request for charges against him to be dropped, though this has to be reviewed by the police. If they disagree, the decision will fall to the attorney-general. Chambers' arrest marked a rare instance of a foreigner being charged under the lese-majeste law, which the government says is necessary to protect the monarchy but critics say is used to clamp down on free speech. "The director-general had decided not to indict the suspect," said the Office of the Attorney-General, adding that prosecutors would seek to dismiss the case in court and coordinate with police. Chambers first lived and worked in Thailand 30 years ago, and in recent years has been lecturing and researching at Naresuan University in northern Thailand. He is one of the world's foremost experts on the Thai military. The complaint against him centres on a notice for an academic webinar organised by a Singapore research institute about Thailand's military and police reshuffles. Chambers was one of the webinar's speakers. The army had accused Chambers of "defamation, contempt or malice" towards the royal family, "importing false computer data" in a way "likely to damage national security or cause public panic", and disseminating computer data "that may affect national security", according to a letter from police that was received by the university's social sciences faculty. Chambers stated that he did not write or publish the notice for the webinar. The army based its complaint on a Facebook post by a Thai royalist, who translated the webinar notice into Thai. Thailand's lese-majeste law has been in place since the creation of the country's first criminal code in 1908, although the penalty was toughened in 1976. Since late 2020, the legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) has seen more than 300 cases of lese-majeste involving more than 270 people, including 20 children under the age of 18, said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, the group's advocacy lead. Last year, a reformist political party was dissolved by court order after the court ruled the party's campaign promise to change lese-majeste was unconstitutional. The European Parliament called on Thailand last month to reform the law, which it said was "among the strictest in the world", and grant amnesty to those prosecuted and imprisoned under it. — BBC
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thai prosecutors drop case against US academic accused of insulting royalty
Thai prosecutors have said they will not pursue charges against an American academic who was arrested last month under a strict law against defaming the monarchy. Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University, was arrested after the army filed a complaint against him. On Thursday, prosecutors said they would request for charges against him to be dropped, though this has to be reviewed by the police. If they disagree, the decision will fall to the attorney-general. Mr Chambers' arrest marked a rare instance of a foreigner being charged under the lese-majeste law, which the government says is necessary to protect the monarchy but critics say is used to clamp down on free speech. "The director-general had decided not to indict the suspect," said the Office of the Attorney-General, adding that prosecutors would seek to dismiss the case in court and coordinate with police. Mr Chambers first lived and worked in Thailand 30 years ago, and in recent years has been lecturing and researching at Naresuan University in northern Thailand. He is one of the world's foremost experts on the Thai military. The complaint against him centres on a notice for an academic webinar organised by a Singapore research institute about Thailand's military and police reshuffles. Mr Chambers was one of the webinar's speakers. The army had accused Mr Chambers of "defamation, contempt or malice" towards the royal family, "importing false computer data" in a way "likely to damage national security or cause public panic", and disseminating computer data "that may affect national security", according to a letter from police that was received by the university's social sciences faculty. Mr Chambers stated that he did not write or publish the notice for the webinar. The army based its complaint on a Facebook post by a Thai royalist, who translated the webinar notice into Thai. Thailand's lese-majeste law has been in place since the creation of the country's first criminal code in 1908, although the penalty was toughened in 1976. Since late 2020, the legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) has seen more than 300 cases of lese-majeste involving more than 270 people, including 20 children under the age of 18, said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, the group's advocacy lead. Last year, a reformist political party was dissolved by court order after the court ruled the party's campaign promise to change lese-majeste was unconstitutional. The European Parliament called on Thailand last month to reform the law, which it said was "among the strictest in the world", and grant amnesty to those prosecuted and imprisoned under it. Thailand's lese-majeste law explained The many ways to get arrested for lese-majeste in Thailand Thai arrest warrant issued for US academic under ban on insulting royalty
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Thai prosecutors drop case against US academic accused of insulting royalty
Thai prosecutors have said they will not pursue charges against an American academic who was arrested last month under a strict law against defaming the Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University, was arrested after the army filed a complaint against Thursday, prosecutors said they would request for charges against him to be dropped, though this has to be reviewed by the police. If they disagree, the decision will fall to the attorney-general. Mr Chambers' arrest marked a rare instance of a foreigner being charged under the lese-majeste law, which the government says is necessary to protect the monarchy but critics say is used to clamp down on free speech. "The director-general had decided not to indict the suspect," said the Office of the Attorney-General, adding that prosecutors would seek to dismiss the case in court and coordinate with Chambers first lived and worked in Thailand 30 years ago, and in recent years has been lecturing and researching at Naresuan University in northern Thailand. He is one of the world's foremost experts on the Thai complaint against him centres on a notice for an academic webinar organised by a Singapore research institute about Thailand's military and police reshuffles. Mr Chambers was one of the webinar's army had accused Mr Chambers of "defamation, contempt or malice" towards the royal family, "importing false computer data" in a way "likely to damage national security or cause public panic", and disseminating computer data "that may affect national security", according to a letter from police that was received by the university's social sciences faculty. Mr Chambers stated that he did not write or publish the notice for the webinar. The army based its complaint on a Facebook post by a Thai royalist, who translated the webinar notice into lese-majeste law has been in place since the creation of the country's first criminal code in 1908, although the penalty was toughened in late 2020, the legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) has seen more than 300 cases of lese-majeste involving more than 270 people, including 20 children under the age of 18, said Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, the group's advocacy year, a reformist political party was dissolved by court order after the court ruled the party's campaign promise to change lese-majeste was European Parliament called on Thailand last month to reform the law, which it said was "among the strictest in the world", and grant amnesty to those prosecuted and imprisoned under it.
RTHK
01-05-2025
- Politics
- RTHK
Thailand drops royal insult charge against US academic
Thailand drops royal insult charge against US academic Thai prosecutors dropped royal defamation charges on Thursday against an American scholar accused of insulting the monarchy over an article published on a political website. Paul Chambers -- a longtime Southeast Asia politics scholar in Thailand -- was arrested last month in Phitsanulok province, north of Bangkok, under the kingdom's strict lese-majeste laws. The case marked a rare instance of a foreign national being charged under Thailand's lese-majeste law, which bans criticism of King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family and carries sentences of up to 15 years in jail per offence. The Office of the Attorney-General said on Thursday it had decided "not to indict" Chambers. "The director-general had decided not to indict the suspect," the statement said, adding that prosecutors would seek to dismiss the case in court and coordinate with police. The Thai army, a staunch defender of the monarchy, filed the complaint over a short blurb posted on a political think tank website this year. A military spokesperson last week defended the decision to file the case following criticism that the army had no legal standing to do so under the Thai law. Trade talks between Thailand and the United States have been indefinitely postponed, fuelling speculation that the arrest may have strained diplomatic ties between the two countries. International watchdogs have expressed concern over the use of the lese-majeste laws -- known as Article 112 -- against academics, activists and even students. One man in northern Thailand was jailed for at least 50 years for lese-majeste last year, while a woman was given a 43-year prison sentence in 2021. In 2023, a man was jailed for two years for selling satirical calendars featuring rubber ducks that a court said defamed the king. (AFP)
