Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Associate Professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, is a former Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs official and author of, among, others, A Plastic Nation and Reinventing Thailand: Thaksin and His Foreign Policy. Dr Pavin has been outspoken on the contentious issue of Article 112, Thailand's lese majeste law, which is the world's harshest. He campaigned for the release of Amphon Tangnoppakul, a 62 year old retired truck driver jailed for 20 years on charges of defaming the Thai monarchy - and who died in detention on May 9 from stomach cancer. On June 12, Dr Pavin received two anonymous phone calls to his Japanese mobile phone from someone in Thailand who threatened him with bodily harm if he did not stop his campaign to abolish Article 112.