Prominent US academic detained on Thai royal insult charge

Paul Chambers, who has spent more than a decade teaching Southeast Asia politics in Thailand, is in pre-trial detention awaiting a decision on his bail request, lawyer Wannaphat Jenroumjit said. "He denied the charge," Wannaphat told AFP. Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family are protected from criticism by the lese-majeste law, with each offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail. The Thai military filed a complaint earlier this year against Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in northern Thailand...