By Pavin Chachavalpongpun and Joshua Kurlantzick The coronation of King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand, held last weekend, was the first crowning of a Thai sovereign since that of his father, the late…

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is associate professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies. A coalition of Thai youths, students and political activists has launched a series of protes…

Despite officially being a constitutional monarchy and supposedly no different than the monarchies of Britain, the Netherlands, or modern-day Japan, Thailand’s royal family has, during the reign of K…

Anti-government "red shirt" protesters hold a picture of Thailand's King Adulyadej in central Bangkok. (Sukree Sukplang/Courtesy Reuters) In the Asia Sentinel this week, Thai academic Pavin Chachava…

Since the coup in 2014, Thailand’s climate of free speech, already previously threatened by lèse majesté prosecutions and restrictions in online speech, has gotten far chillier. The country has falle…