Thai authorities deny justice to murdered activist’s family

Thailand

None of the officials implicated in the death of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen have been tried for their alleged roles

Eight years after a Christian ethnic minority rights activist disappeared in a protected forest in central Thailand, his relatives are still waiting to see justice done.

Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen, an ethnic Karen indigenous rights activist, was arrested in April 2014 by officials — superintendent Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn and four of his men — in Kaeng Krachan National Park for allegedly collecting wild honey illegally in the forest.

The young activist, who had been campaigning for the rights of Karen people to stay unmolested in the forest, disappeared without a trace until some of his remains in the form of bone fragments were discovered in a steel drum retrieved from a local reservoir in 2019.

Despite clear evidence that he had been murdered, none of the officials implicated in his death has been tried for their alleged roles.  

“It’s been eight years and we’re still seeing this climate of impunity,” Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, a rights group, told a Thai newspaper. “We still do not know [what happened to Billy], and the perpetrators are still at large.”

Before his enforced disappearance the Karen Christian had been engaged in a public campaign to stop park officials from expelling his fellow villagers from their land inside the protected forest.

“When we talk about Billy’s disappearance, we should also [remember] the violence against his community, the ethnic Karen villagers who were forcibly evicted from their homes” 

Officials had been accusing the villagers of hunting and logging illegally in the forest and in an effort to drive them away burned down 20 homes of the villagers in May 2011.

On the day of his disappearance three years later when Porlajee was detained by park officials, he was reportedly on his way to help other Karen villagers file a lawsuit against the park’s superintendent for allegedly ordering his subordinates to burn down those Karen homes.  

Rights advocates say the case highlights the impunity with which officials can treat disadvantaged minorities and their supporters in Thailand.

“When we talk about Billy’s disappearance, we should also [remember] the violence against his community, the ethnic Karen villagers who were forcibly evicted from their homes,” said Pranom Somwong, a representative of Protection International Thailand, a group that advocates for human rights defenders.

“We need to remember that in the same area Taksamol Aobaom was shot dead on a highway on Sept. 10 in 2011. He was a lawyer campaigning against the ill practices of officials of the Kaeng Krachan National Park against an ethnic Karen community living inside the park,” Pranom noted.

The initial charges filed against the park’s superintendent and his subordinates in 2019 were later dropped notwithstanding all the evidence against them

The enforced disappearance of Porlajee has been a lightning rod for young rights activists in Thailand who have for years staged memorial gatherings at a cultural center in Bangkok while demanding that those allegedly responsible for his death be brought to justice.

Yet despite such calls, none of the implicated officials have been prosecuted.

The initial charges filed against the park’s superintendent and his subordinates in 2019 were later dropped notwithstanding all the evidence against them.

There have also been allegations that local authorities applied pressure on his wife and other relatives to stop seeking to have the implicated officials prosecuted.

“The government has convinced the relatives to withdraw the cases [against the officials] and they had to concede to the government’s demand,” Pranom said.

Latest News