Nattapol and publishers sued

MR Priyanandana Rangsit is taking legal action and seeking damages of 50 million baht from writer Nattapol Chai­ching and publisher Fah Diew Kan (Same Sky) for alleged slander.

MR Priyanandana, a granddaughter of the Prince of Chai Nat, last Friday told her lawyer to lodge a complaint with the Civil Court against Mr Nattapol, his two PhD thesis advisers and two executives of the Fah Diew Kan publishing house for disseminating false information.

Mr Nattapol authored two books, Khor Funfai Nai Fun An Lueachuea and Khun Seuk Sakdina Phraya Insi, and also wrote a thesis Thai Politics in Phibun's Government under the US World Order (1948–1957). MR Priyanandana claimed that some parts of it were misleading and damaged the reputation of the founder of the Rangsit family, the Prince of Chai Nat.

MR Priyanandana also asked the court to issue an injunction to prohibit the defendants from reproducing or continuing to publish the false information in the thesis and the two books.

Earlier, Chaiyand Chaiyaporn, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, accused Mr Nattapol of using false references in the thesis and said he aggravated the damage by repeating its contents in the two books.

One of the references in the thesis was a Bangkok Post article published on Dec 18, 1950, which said the Regent [Prince of Chai Nat] had been expanding his political role by frequently attending cabinet meetings led by prime minister Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsonggram. This move was said to have made Field Marshal Plaek unhappy and that he responded by demanding that he be allowed to sit in meetings of the Privy Council if the Regent continued to interfere with the administrative and legislative branches.

The Post denied it had reported such information, which has since been quoted in several other channels, and said the article merely reported that several cabinet members had voiced concern over 50 senators being appointed by the Privy Council without the government being consulted.

Mr Nattapol has admitted making a mistake and declared his intention to correct it.