BANGKOK — A Thai-born British citizen has been accused of insulting the monarchy by her own parents.

Mr. Surapong Amornpat, 67, and Ms. Somchintra Amornpat, 59, lodged complaints with the police in Bangkok's Pravet district yesterday, urging police to take legal action against their daughter, Ms. Chatvadee Amornpat, 34, who is currently residing in London, UK.

According to Mr. Surapong and Ms. Somchintra, Ms. Chatvadee has repeatedly insulted the monarchy on social media, namely via her Facebook and Youtube accounts. The parents gave police seven clips of footage, which purportedly show Ms. Chatvadee making offensive remarks toward the monarchy, as evidence of her wrongdoing.

Lese majeste (defamation of the Royal family) is outlawed under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Codes, with a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison per offence.

Mr. Surapong told the police that Ms. Chatvadee, who is working as a hairstylist in London, has lived in the UK for a long time and recently acquired British citizenship. 

He told reporters that he and Ms. Somchintra decided to press charges against their daughter after she started publishing critical remarks of the monarchy on the internet, which has brought waves of condemnation and intimidation towards their family in recent months.

"I do not condone my daughter’s wrongdoing, so I have to press charges because I don't know what else I can do," Mr. Surapong said. "I have warned her to stop such action, but she won't listen."

He added, "I want  people to understand that just because a daughter is doing something wrong, it doesn't mean the parents are also guilty, because we don't condone such actions."

According to Mr. Surapong, Ms. Chatvadee has not been in contact with her parents for some time.

The police said they will investigate the accusation and stressed that lese majeste is still considered a crime in Thailand even if the wrongdoing is committed outside the Kingdom.

Complaints of lese majeste have skyrocketed in the past few years, and critics of the law say the allegation of lese majeste is often used as a political weapon to silence opponents.

Today Pol.Maj.Gen. Noraboon Naenna, deputy commander of the Crime Suppression Division, also convened a meeting to discuss the investigation into a Redshirt activist, Mr. Wuttipong Kochthammakul, who has been accused of defaming the monarchy in an interview with a Vice News reporter. 

Mr. Wuttipong has not been seen in public since the allegation surfaced earlier this month. 

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CHIANG MAI — Redshirts have pressed charges against anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, accusing him of lese majeste for vowing to seek His Majesty the King's support for his campaign to oust the government.

Mr. Suthep announced earlier this month that he will install himself as a "Sovereign Body" and draft a list of Prime Minister and Cabinet members to submit to His Majesty the King for royal approval. 

Dozens of Redshirt supporters in Chiang Mai province gathered at Mueang Police Station yesterday to press charges against Mr. Suthep under Article 112 of the Criminal Codes, which prohibits any remark deemed as defamation of the Royal Family. 

The Redshirts also filed a charge under Article 113 of the Criminal Codes, accusing Mr. Suthep of inciting insurrection against the democratic regime with the King As Head of State. 

The police have documented the charges, but it is not immediately clear whether authorities will take any legal action against Mr. Suthep.

Mr. Worawuth Rujiphanan, the leader of the group, said the Redshirts in Chiang Mai are resolutely opposed to Mr. Suthep's plan of replacing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with an appointed PM and an unelected "People's Council."

Mr. Worawuth, who operates a local Redshirt radio station, added that if there is a military coup or any attempt to remove Ms. Yingluck, his supporters will immediately surround the Chiang Mai City Hall in protest. 

The Royal Thai Army has denied rumours of an imminent coup in April, stating that the allegation is completely groundless.

Nevertheless, sources inside the Chiang Mai police force claimed that the army has instructed its divisions in the north to collect addresses of all local Redshirt leaders for an unspecified purpose.

The sources also alleged that the army is stockpiling shields, batons, and other weapons in its northern barracks, but the troops have received no other instruction related to the matter.  

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PHUKET — The two journalists charged with defaming the Royal Thai Navy in an online article were released on bail today after being detained in holding cells for five hours.

Alan Morison and Chutima Sidsathian, from the news website Phuketwan, were charged with defaming the Thai navy after publishing an article last July that included an excerpt from a Reuters report alleging the navy’s involvement in the trafficking of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar.  

If found guilty, Morrison and Chutima could face up to two years in prison for the defamation charges, and five years for violating the Computer Crime Act.

Today Morison and Chutima appeared before the Phuket Criminal Court for the first time to hear their charges. They were later detained for five hours with other criminal suspects in the court’s holding cells while officials processed their bail release.

Morison said he was detained with 90 other men — 21 of them with shackles around their ankles — while Chutima shared a cell with nine other women.

Morison also told Khaosod English that he sat next to Stein Havard Dokset, aka the "Body Bin Killer," who has been accused of murdering his girlfriend in Phuket province. 

"We had an interesting conversation for several hours," Morison recalled. 

Morison and Chutima were eventually released on bail after posting 100,000 baht each. The bond money was provided by a supporting group in Phuket, Morison said. 

The court hearing comes several days after two Reuters reporters were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their year-long coverage of the plight of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar that has been the victim of severe persecution and abuse, both at home and abroad.

Although the paragraph in question was originally written by Reuters journalists, only Morison and Chutima, who published the excerpt on the local news site Phuketwan, have been charged.

"The Royal Thai Navy has chosen to use these very iniquitous laws to prosecute a very small news outlet that happens to have covered the Rohingya issue consistently for many years," Morison told Khaosod English. "The more I think about it the more I think the objective is to shut down Phuketwan."

The lawsuit has been condemned by numerous human rights and press freedom groups, including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders.

"This is a tragedy to Thailand, a tragedy to the Royal Thai Navy, and a tragedy to Phuketwan," said Morrison. "But at least it highlights the issues of media freedom and the appalling treatment of the Rohingya." 

Morison and Chutima are due to appear in court again on May 26. 

(Reporting by Sally Mairs)

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BANGKOK — The United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) has called off the mass rally originally scheduled for 18 April.

"The UDD will not organise a mass rally on 18 April, because we need to consider the situation day-to-day," said the UDD spokesman, Mr. Thanawut Wichaidith,

"Let me stress that this is not a retreat," he added, "But we will only rally when there is situation, and what we want is an unarmed rally. We don't want to clash with [rival] protesters".

The UDD had previously pledged to organise a show of strength to coincide with the scheduled court decision on whether to strip the chairman of the UDD of his bail release. 

Mr. Jatupon Prompan is facing terrorism charges related to the political unrest in Bangkok in 2010 and has been released on bail.

Mr. Thanawut also denounced the recent Facebook post by Mr. Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, the chief Election Commissioner, in which Mr. Somchai said he does not wish to maintain any friendship with the Redshirts as they are "rude" and "aggressive" people. 

"Let it be known that we don't want friendship with Mr. Somchai either," Mr. Thanawut said in a press conference.

Meanwhile, Ms. Thida Thawornseth, the chief adviser to the UDD, stressed that the UDD may call a rally at any time, so Redshirt supporters should be ready at all times.

She said the UDD will mostly likely choose Aksa Avenue in Nakhon Pathom province as the site of their next rally.

"I want to inform the Election Commission and all other so-called independent agencies that if they refuse to organise a new election, or if they refuse to exercise justice, the people will not tolerate them anymore," Ms. Thida said, "They will come out and fight for justice".

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BANGKOK — A pro-government lecturer says Chulalongkorn University has terminated a working contract with her, a decision she attributed to political disagreement.

According to Ms. Suda Rangukan, her annual contract with the university's Faculty of Arts was over by 31 March, and the administration was supposed to renew the contract with her, but she was recently informed that the university has decided otherwise, citing her "average" academic performance.

Although the decision does not mention any political reasons, Ms. Suda said the administration has previously voiced its concern over her political activism with the Redshirt movement, such as her role as the leader of the Declaration of Street Justice group.

Ms. Suda claimed she was also informed by a high-ranking official at the university that a Senate committee has questioned the university administration about Ms. Suda's involvement with a satirical traditional Chinese opera that criticizes the Thai establishment.

She said she will appeal the university's decision to terminate her contract, explaining that she wants to see fairness in the employment system at Chulalongkorn; she believes many university employees have been treated unfairly by the "outsourcing" structure Chulalongkorn adopted after the 2006 military coup. 

"What is worse than my case is … some senior lecturers in the bureaucracy who can simply extend their own working contracts endlessly," Ms. Suda told Khaosod, "They can get the retirement money and still receive salary from the university."

Ms. Suda added that she is determined to continue her political activism despite the university's decision.  

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BANGKOK — The International Parliamentary Union (IPU) has expressed concern over the ongoing investigation against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a Pheu Thai official said.

Ms. Jarupan Kuldilok, a former Pheu Thai MP, said in a press conference that the IPU's move followed Pheu Thai's complaint to the agency, requesting the IPU to respond to an inquiry by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) into Ms. Yingluck's controversial rice pledging scheme.

Pro-government supporters accuse the NACC of conspiring with anti-government movements and intending to suspend Ms. Yingluck from her caretaker position. 

Ms. Jarupan said the Pheu Thai Party has also complained to the IPU about the NACC's effort to strip 308 MPs and Senators who voted in favour of the decision to amend the 2007 Constitution. The amendment was struck down as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, and the NACC has subsequently launched an inquiry into the 308 politicians, accusing them of participating in unconstitutional actions.

According to Ms. Jarupan, the IPU has responded to these complaints by sending a "warning notice" to the Thai authorities, reminding them that Thailand is obliged to respect the rule of law and civil rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, though Ms. Jarupan did not specifically mention which agencies the statement was sent to. 

"Various international organisations such as the IPU, the United Nations, and other foreign governments are monitoring the behaviour of a so-called independent agency who wields a power equivalent to the court like NACC," Ms. Jarupan said, adding that any Thai official found guilty of violating the ICCPR or any other rights-related international treaty might find themselves blacklisted by the global community.

Ms. Jarupan also stressed that although the IPU does not wield any real power over the Thai authorities, Thailand is obliged to comply to international treaties which guarantee the rule of law and fair trials. 

Another former Pheu Thai MP, Ms. Phuwanida Khunpalin, explained that Pheu Thai's complaint to the IPU is a legitimate exercise of parliamentarians' rights to seek assistance from international bodies concerning the alleged injustice they have faced from the Thai legal system.

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