A critic silenced: How a Thai academic wasn't allowed to speak at MEA's Delhi Dialogue

Listed as one of the speakers at the recently held Delhi Dialogues on 5 July, Thai academic Pavin Chachavalpongpun has claimed that he wasn't allowed to participate in the inaugural ministerial session on 4 July which was inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Chachavalpongpun, who is an associate professor at the University of Kyoto, alleges that the decision was taken under pressure from the Thai authorities. He made these claims in an article for the Washington Post.

“Hours before the first one, the Thai Embassy in Delhi noticed my name on the schedule and expressed concerns to the Indian hosts. They were worried that I was going to speak critically of the junta,” wrote the academic, who had sought refugee status in Japan after the Thai Junta revoked his passport wrote.

“The Thai Foreign Ministry had assigned a deputy foreign minister, a junta appointee, to represent Thailand at the event. My attendance, it seems, would have “embarrassed” the Thai delegates,” he wrote.

Virasakdi Futrakul, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Thailand was one of the speakers in the ministerial session. Sources say participation in the ministerial interactions on 4 July was by invitation.

“Under pressure from the Thai Embassy, the organisers told me that my participation at the ministerial session was no longer welcome. In other words, having traveled to India, I was kicked out of the first day’s activities,” Chachavalpongpun alleges.

Sources also indicate that he was not invited by the Government of India but by Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a private think tank, which was the academic partner of the event.