AN AMERICAN academic who is now not being prosecuted under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law, has lost his job at Naresuan University with immigration police having also seized his passport, Naewna newspaper said this morning (May 3).
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights posted a message saying it had been informed by Naresuan University’s Faculty of Social Sciences that Asst. Prof. Dr. Phanu Phutthawong, vice president for administration, acting on behalf of the president, had issued an order terminating the employment of Dr. Paul Chambers, a specialist lecturer at this faculty.
This was effective from April 9, 2025, the date his visa was cancelled.
Moreover, immigration police in Phitsanulok seized his passport soon after he got it back from the court on May 1 following the Office of the Attorney General stating that it had decided not to pursue the two sets of charges against Chambers and asked the court in Phitsanulok to release him.
The second charges stem from alleged violations of the computer crimes act. He had denied both sets of charges.
His lawyer, Wannaphat Jenroumjit, said the initial charges stemmed from a blurb published on a website of a research institute outside of Thailand for an online academic seminar last year at which Chambers was a speaker.
“The swift order from the prosecutor is a good thing as it could alleviate the damages to Paul, which were numerous,” Wannaphat told Reuters.
An appeal against the cancellation of Chambers’ visa has been filed, but the immigration bureau has not yet made a decision on the matter, Wannaphat said.
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Dr. Paul Chambers. Photo: Amarin TV
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