American academic Paul Chambers is appealing the termination of his employment contract by Naresuan University on grounds that it was made without due process, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
Mr Chambers was recently embroiled in a lese-majeste case but prosecutors decided not to indict him after concluding that the complainants’ case lacked grounds.
However, his future in Thailand remains uncertain. His visa was revoked shortly after he was charged last month under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law. Termination of his teaching job would also result in automatic cancellation of his work permit.
Mr Chambers has lived in Thailand since 1993 and is well-known in academic circles as a commentator on civil-military relations and democracy in Asia, with a special focus on Thailand.
Panu Bhuddhawong, vice-rector of administration at Naresuan University, acting in the rector’s stead, signed two separate notices to terminate Mr Chambers’ employment on April 21 and 24, according to TLHR..
The termination was made retroactive to April 9, the day Mr Chambers’ visa was revoked, and a day after he met prosecutors in Phitsanulok province to acknowledge the charges against him.
TLHR said on Wednesday that Mr Panu overstepped his authority as his duty to act on behalf of the rector of the university in Phitsanulok does not cover termination of employment.
Furthermore, university regulations allow termination only in cases of serious misconduct or failure to meet qualifications, neither of which applied to Mr Chambers, who was also stripped of the opportunity to explain his case, the lawyers’ group said in a statement.
The vice-rector should have set up a committee to investigate the conduct of an employee before proceeding any further, the statement said.
The lawyers said Mr Chambers’ contract stipulates certain conditions, such as failure to pass a job evaluation, which did not apply in this case. As well, it calls for three months’ notice of contract termination.
The complaint against the academic reportedly centred on a notice for an academic webinar organised by the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore on Thailand’s military and police reshuffles. It listed Mr Chambers, a recognised expert on the topic, as a speaker.
Mr Chambers, 58, said he neither wrote nor published the text, which has since been taken down from the Institute’s website.
Prosecutors in Phitsanulok said on May 1 that they had reviewed the evidence supplied by police, who had received the original complaint from the Third Army Region, and concluded it did not support further action under Section 112.
It is still possible, though unlikely, that Provincial Police Region 6 could contest the decision and seek to pursue the charge again.
Even though the court returned Mr Chambers’ passport after prosecutors announced their decision, Phitsanulok immigration officials have seized it again pending a review of his status, TLHR said.
If an immigration review committee determines that the visa revocation should stand, Mr Chambers risks being deported from the kingdom.
