Lese Majeste charge is unfounded : BBC

"The allegations made against Jonathan Head are completely unfounded," Paul Danahar, the BBC's Asia Bureau editor, in a statement yesterday.

"The BBC understands that the police in Thailand are required to investigate all complaints of lese majeste, and we will cooperate with that investigation. But it is very upsetting that his work should be incorrectly presented in this way, and it has caused great distress to both him and his family."

Pol Lt-Colonel Wattanasak Mungkitjakarndee has filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division against Head, accusing him of being disrespectful to the Royal Family.

Police from the Crime Suppression Division refused to comment on the accusations.

Among the evidence cited by Wattanasak was that Head once interviewed deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Shortly after the September 2006 coup that ousted him, Thaksin granted numerous interviews to both local and international press and hired expensive public-relations companies to keep him in the public spotlight. It was not clear why Wattanasak singled out Head.

PM's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair resigned his Cabinet post last week, because of accusations filed by Wattanasak that his statements at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) last year had insulted the monarchy.

Wattanasak is also apparently targeting Head because he moderated at a function last year at the FCCT, where Jakrapob spoke about Thaksin and the 2006 coup.

The claims of insulting the monarchy come as Thailand faces heightened political tension.