Members of the Thai Pakdee royalist group went to the Japanese embassy on Monday morning to demand that the Japanese government take action against exiled anti-Monarchy lecturer, Pavin Chachavalpongpun.
The lecturer, at the Southeast Asian Study Institute of Kyoto University in Japan, has been accused by the royalist group of spreading distorted information about the Thai Monarchy via social media, in a way which may fuel division in Thai society.
The group issued their demands in an open letter, addressed to the Japanese government, which was submitted to officials at the embassy.
The demands include ending the use of Japanese soil by Pavin to attack the Thai Monarchy, an investigation into whether Pavin, in the course of his lecturing at the Kyoto University, has tried to instill in the minds of Japanese students his anti-Thai Monarchy ideology and an investigation into the whether Pavin has received financial support from foreign sources to use Japan as a launch pad to attack the Thai Monarchy.
The Thai Pakdee group also wants to know why the Japanese government allows the exiled lecturer to stay in Japan and on what status.
A leader of the group, Akkarakrit Noonchan, speaking in front of the Japanese embassy, said that his son used to pay respect to the King’s portrait, but not now, and he and his son cannot discuss the issue without quarreling, because of the misleading information about the revered institution on social media.
The Thai Pakdee group, at its first public rally yesterday at the Din Daeng Youth Centre, has vowed to protect the Thai Monarchy and the Constitution. The group has also urged the Thai Government to take legal action against those who offend the revered institution.
