The U.S. State Department expressed concern on Tuesday regarding the arrest of an American academic in Thailand. The academic was detained on charges of criticizing the monarchy, a rare instance of a foreign citizen being held under Thailand's stringent lèse-majesté laws.

The arrested individual, Paul Chambers, is a lecturer specializing in civil-military relations in Southeast Asia at Naresuan University in northern Thailand. His legal representatives, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, confirmed the charges against him, which include violations of the lèse-majesté laws and the Computer Crimes Act. Furthermore, immigration authorities revoked his visa, raising the possibility of his deportation.

The charges are linked to a short online description of a webinar held last October. Dr. Chambers was the featured speaker at the webinar, which focused on Thailand's military and police forces. According to his legal team, the text, which originally appeared on a Singapore-based research institute's website and has since been modified, stated that the Thai king had authority over changes in military leadership. The lawyers emphasized that Dr. Chambers did not author the text in question.

Following the webinar, a unit within the Royal Thai Armed Forces, responsible for internal security, requested additional information from Naresuan University regarding the webinar and Dr. Chambers, as stated by his legal representatives.