LOS ANGELES, ASIA MEDIA: PUNDIT/PROF PAVIN DELIVERS PENETRATING PITCH ON THAILAND

PAVINThe famous Southeast Asian, media commentator and political analyst “Pavin” visited LMU Friday (8 Oct.) to offer informal but deeply informed observations about the politics and government of contemporary Thailand. He was not optimistic that the current government could succeed; nor was he optimistic that a new government could easily and relatively quickly be formed.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. Earning his PhD from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Pavin is the author of two books, A Plastic Nation: The Curse of Thainess in Thai-Burmese Relations and Reinventing Thailand: Thaksin and His Foreign Policy.

He is also editor of the latest publication: “‘Good Coup’ Gone Bad: Thailand’s Political Developments since Thaksin’s Downfall”. Pavin is also a chief editor of the online journal “Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia”. And he has lectured at universities from Harvard to UCLA. Currently, Pavin is a Distinguished Fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

After the coup of 2014, Pavin was twice summoned by the coup makers for open criticism of the military government. He rejected the summons. As a result, a warrant was issued for his arrest; shortly after, his passport was revoked. This situation forced him to apply for refugee status with the Japanese government.

He was in conversation with Professor Tom Plate, LMU’s Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies and founder of Asia Media International – as well as with LMU students, including Asia Media International Managing Editor Lexie Tucker, and Asia Pacific Studies Director Robin Wang.

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.