Wanchalearm Satsaksit ( th, วันเฉลิม สัตย์ศักดิ์สิทธิ์, , ; born 11 August 1982) is a Thai pro-democracy activist and political exile. He was an activist for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

protection in various countries. Wanchalearm is an alleged lèse majesté offender according to a report released in 2015, which claimed that he took refuge in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. Wanchalearm was abducted by armed men outside his home in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

on 4 June 2020. After the news and the

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage was published by ''

Prachatai ''Prachatai'' ( th, ประชาไท, ''Free People'') is an independent non-profit online newspaper in Thailand. Focusing on news from and commentary on NGOs, social movements, and human rights issues, the website became an alternative sour ...

'', Thai

netizen The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and '' citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

s and various Thais prodded the Thai and Cambodian government to take action on his disappearance.

Biography

Wanchalearm was born in Ubon Ratchathani Province and graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences of

Ramkhamhaeng University Ramkhamhaeng University (RU) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยรามคำแหง) is Thailand's largest public university. It was named in honour of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great of Sukhothai. The university provides an effective and e ...

. He was a coordinator for the Youth Activity for Community and Society Centre (Y-act), and was a member of the Pheu Thai Youths Institute of the

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; th, พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit=For Thais Party, , ) is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 Septemb ...

. During the

2013–2014 Thai political crisis The 2013–2014 Thai political crisis was a period of political instability in Thailand. Anti-government protests took place between November 2013 and May 2014, organised by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), a political pressur ...

, he was appointed by then Deputy Prime Minister

Chalerm Yubamrung Chalerm Yubamrung ( th, เฉลิม อยู่บำรุง, , ) (born 10 June 1947), is a Thai politician. He was a Member of Parliament representing the Pheu Thai Party, and was one of the Deputy Prime Ministers of Yingluck Shinawatra ...

as a public relations staffer. At one point, he worked as a public relations team for then Minister of Transport

Chadchart Sittipunt Chadchart Sittipunt (, , ; born 24 May 1966) is a Thai politician, engineer, and professor who is the incumbent Governor of Bangkok. He previously was Minister of Transport from 2012 to 2014. Early life and education Chadchart is the third so ...

. He is claimed to be the person who took the iconic image of the minister walking barefoot into a temple in Surin Province that later became an

internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

. After the coup d'état in 2014, he was charged for not appearing after a summons by the army junta. He was accused of lèse majesté in 2015. Most recently, in 2018, he was charged for a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

post that criticized

Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...

, the prime minister and junta leader.

Abduction

Prachathai ''Prachatai'' ( th, ประชาไท, ''Free People'') is an independent non-profit online newspaper in Thailand. Focusing on news from and commentary on NGOs, social movements, and human rights issues, the website became an alternative sour ...

'', a non-profit online newspaper in Thailand, reported that Wanchalearm was abducted in front of his condominium in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

on 4 June 2020 at 17:54

ICT ICT may refer to: Sciences and technology * Information and communications technology * Image Constraint Token, in video processing * Immunochromatographic test, a rapid immunoassay used to detect diseases such as anthrax * In-circuit test, in ...

. A security guard attempted to help him but was dissuaded by the armed assailants. Wanchalearm was speaking on his phone when he was abducted and uttered the words "Ouch! I can't breathe" before the line was cut. Cambodian police initially declined to probe the incident and claimed to know nothing of it, dismissing it as "

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

Activism

Most commentators thought that this was a case of

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

committed by either the Thai or Cambodian government, given that Wanchalearm had been highly critical of PM Prayut on his

page since the

2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), launched a coup d'état, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government of Thailand, foll ...

. Public concern has grown since the disappearance. The

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

told the BBC that it was following the case and was trying to force an investigation.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

both demanded the Cambodian government investigate Wanchalearm's disappearance. Cambodian authorities, on 9 June, finally relented and announced that they would investigate the disappearance. Another group that has raised concern about the matter is

The Mirror Foundation The Mirror Foundation, formerly known as Mirror Art Group, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in northern Thailand in the Chiang Rai Province's sub-district of Mae Yao, Mueang Chiang Rai District. The organization's aim is to help Hill ...

, and a number of student associations have made announcements calling for the governments to take action. On 11 June 2020, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances submitted a request to the Cambodian government to take urgent action on the case. The petition was submitted in accordance with the

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations intended to prevent forced disappearance, which, as defined in international law ...

, a convention ratified by Cambodia. The committee requested that Cambodia, as a state actor, submit a list of actions taken in the case by 24 June 2020. On 11 August 2020, Wanchalearm's family and Amnesty International Thailand visited the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok and requested a meeting with the Cambodian Ambassador to Thailand, to obtain a progress report.

Thai government reaction

Thirty uniformed and undercover officers arrested four Thai university students at the

Democracy Monument The Democracy Monument ( th, อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย, ''Anusawari Prachathipatai'') is a public monument in the city center of Bangkok, capital of Thailand. It occupies a traffic circle on the wide east– ...

on 9 June 2020. The students, protesting the abduction of Wanchalearm, who were tying white ribbons at public places in Bangkok to call for justice in the case. The students were charged with violation of Section 12 of the 1992 Act on the Maintenance of the Cleanliness and Orderliness of the Country, which states, "no one shall scrape, chip, scratch, write, spray paint or make appear by any means" messages in public places. Violators may be fined up to 5,000 baht. They were also cited for failure to present identification as required by the 1983 National Identity Card Act. Stopped in front of the Ministry of Defence by 10 soldiers, the activists were told that their campaign was prohibited as "it was symbolic". The ''

Bangkok Post The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount ...

'' immediately posed the question, "...why police had to crack down on the symbolic activity as it was causing no damage to public property and was unlikely to cause trouble among the general public... That would appear to be a disproportionate price to pay to maintain cleanliness in the city, especially if the outcome is increased public scrutiny of government attempts to stifle freedom of speech." Thai Foreign Minister

Don Pramudwinai Don Pramudwinai ( th, ดอน ปรมัตถ์วินัย, , ; born 25 January 1950) is a Thai diplomat serving as foreign minister of Thailand (2020). Early life and education Don attended Wat Suthiwararam and Suankularb Wittayalai ...

said on 10 June that Wanchalearm did not have political refugee status, so Thailand could do nothing but wait for Cambodia to finish its investigation. He said that Thailand could only ask Cambodia to follow up on the case. "We cannot speculate as to his whereabouts until we receive an answer rom Cambodia" the minister said.

References

External links

''Justice for Thailand's Disappeared''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Satsaksit, Wanchalearm 1982 births 2020s missing person cases

Wanchalearm Satsaksit Wanchalearm Satsaksit ( th, วันเฉลิม สัตย์ศักดิ์สิทธิ์, , ; born 11 August 1982) is a Thai pro-democracy activist and political exile. He was an activist for human rights in Thailand and HIV prote ...

Kidnappings in Cambodia Missing person cases in Cambodia

Refugees in Cambodia