Pavin Chachavalpongpun

Pavin Chachavalpongpun

Pavin Chachavalpongpun (born 1971) is a Thai scholar and political exile. He was born in Bangkok, Thailand. He graduated a Bachelor's degree from Chulalongkorn University and doctorate from SOAS University of London. He worked as a diplomat in Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for thirteen years, then a political science academic, and is currently a professor at Kyoto University, where he is editor-in-chief of its Center for Southeast Asian Studies' Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia.He is a well known critic of the state of Thai monarchy and Thai politics, regularly gives lecture and writes articles, books and opinion editorials on the topics, for outlets like the The Washington Post and the South China Morning Post. He supported reforms of the monarchy and the country's lèse majesté law. After the 2014 Thai coup d'état, the junta ordered him to turn himself in, but he refused and even mocked the summons by asking if he could send his pet chihuahua to meet with General Prayut in his stead. On 13 June 2014, the NCPO issued an arrest warrant against Pavin, and he has lived in exile ever since. His current residence is in Tokyo, Japan. In July, 2019, he was apparently assaulted near his residence, in an incident allegedly linked to the Thai authorities.In 2020, he launched a Facebook page "Royalist Marketplace" as a forum to discuss and criticize the Thai monarchy freely. The Thai authorities successfully took action to shut down the Facebook page, which has accumulated around one million users, and which Facebook may be appealing, while Pavin is facing a charge of cybercrime. He has since launched a replacement Facebook page. A Facebook spokesperson stated, “Requests like this are severe, contravene international human rights law, and have a chilling effect on people’s ability to express themselves... We work to protect and defend the rights of all internet users and are preparing to legally challenge this request.”

Update this biography »
Complete biography of Pavin Chachavalpongpun »