"The Nation" said Laksana Kornsilpa, 57 years old, a translator by profession, filed a complaint against the 13-man board with the Lumpini police.

ASTV Manager website quoted Laksana as saying she filed the complaint because the FCCT board made a decision to sell DVD copies of Jakrapob Penkair's controversial speech at the club in 2007.

She alleged that the whole board "may be acting in an organised fashion and the goal may be to undermine the credibility of the high institution of Thailand".

The FCCT was also accused of translating into English the statements made by two leaders of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD), Veera Musikapong and Nattawuth Saigua. Their statements, Laksana alleged, are deemed insulting to the royal family.

The website also reported that Laksana claimed that some major local newspapers may also be involved in a scheme to undermine the monarchy.

"The Nation" quoted FCCT president Marwaan Macan-Markar as saying that the board members have decided not to give separate interviews. Instead, it issued a statement saying: "The FCCT will cooperate with such an inquiry [by the police]."

The board is composed of Marwaan Macan-Markar of Inter-Press Service, president; Jonathan Head, BBC, first vice president; Patrick Barta, "Wall Street Journal", second vice president; Dominic Faulder, treasurer; Jim Pollard, "The Nation", corresponding secretary; Henry J. Silverman, Global Spectrum, recording secretary; Daniel Ten Kate, Bloomberg, director; Karuna Buakamsri, Thai PBS, director; Anasuya Sanyal, Channel News Asia, director; Stuart Raj, Kogneit Company Ltd, director; Greg Lowe, "The Business Times", director; Justin Moseley, Consortium UK, director; Nirmal Ghosh, "The Straits Times", past president.

"The Nation" quoted a source within the FCCT, who, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was "surprised" at the latest allegation, which came after two years of the speech being made, adding that "it places Thailand in a very poor light".

The source explained that DVD copies are made largely for club members who missed interesting talks and sales are restricted solely to FCCT members.

Only a few copies of the Jakrapob talk are said to have been sold because a manuscript of his speech had circulated in Bangkok shortly after he was charged, and the video can be downloaded free from some websites.

Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Law allows anyone to file a complaint with the police against anyone he or she deems to have defamed the monarch and members of the royal family. The police's investigation process to determine the charge could take years.

If convicted, the accused could face up to 15 years' imprisonment.

SOURCE: The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (http://www.seapa.org) is a coalition of press freedom advocacy groups from Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Established in November 1998, it is the only regional network with the specific mandate of promoting and protecting press freedom throughout Southeast Asia. SEAPA is composed of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Indonesia), the Jakarta-based Institute for the Study of the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Thai Journalists Association. SEAPA also has partners in Malaysia, Cambodia, East Timor, and exiled Burmese media, and undertakes projects and programs for press freedom throughout the region