The military officers in northern Thailand have threatened to force the cancellation of a discussion about LGBT if it touches on political issues.    

According to Prachatham News, military officers from 33rd Army Division of the northern province of Chiang Mai at 12:30 pm on Saturday, 4 July 2015, came to inspect an event called ‘Gender & LGBTIQs in Modern Society’ at the Cultural Exhibition Hall of Chiang Mai University.

The military officers, in and out of uniform, later contacted Woralun Boonyasurat, the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Chiang Mai University, to ask if the exhibition and the discussions at the event are related to politics and threatened the organisers with cancellation of the event if it involves political discussions.

After the discussion with the rector, the military permitted the event organisers to hold the event. However, military and police officers tightly monitored the discussion.       

“If there is any mention of politics, we will force the event to be cancelled immediately,” Prachatham quoted a military officer as saying.

One of the organisers said that prior to organising the event they had already asked for permission from the military in the province.