Thailand’s warning to Joshua Wong: video speech will be cut off if you criticise Beijing or reveal details of detention

Video call would be cut off if he talked about detention in Bangkok, incited Thai people or criticised Beijing, according to report in local paper

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Joshua Wong reportedly agreed to stick to topics such as his personal life and the situation in Hong Kong. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 9:00am, 7 Oct 2016Updated: 1:07pm, 18 Aug 2017

Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was barred from talking about his 12-hour detention at the airport in Bangkok, inciting the Thai people or even criticising Beijing during a video conference with a Thai university on Thursday evening.

The student leader, who had been invited by a top Bangkok university to speak at a political forum, was deported from Thailand on Wednesday after being told he was on a blacklist. He ended up giving his speech via a 30-minute video call starting at about 7.30pm in Thailand.

Watch: Thai students protest deportation of Joshua Wong

In a front-page article on the Bangkok Post website, Wong was said to have been told by Thai officials that he could not share details of his detention or make negative comments about Beijing, or the video connection would be cut.

The article said Wong in the end “agreed” to talk only about his personal life and what political changes Hong Kong went through after the handover, as well as the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement in 2014, in which he played an integral part.

The forum, titled “October 6: Chula looks to the future”, was part of Chulalongkorn University’s commemoration of a deadly massacre of student protesters 40 years ago.

Thai immigration officials stopped Wong on arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport late Tuesday evening before detaining him in a holding cell and putting him back on a flight to Hong Kong 12 hours later.

Prime Minister and junta leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha later confirmed Wong’s deportation was at the Chinese government’s request.