Thai political activists fearful
Those exiled to Laos live in fear following numerous murders and disappearances of dissidents across the border.
BANGKOK: When members of the exiled Thai protest band Faiyen learned the concrete-stuffed bodies of two Thai activists who had disappeared from Laos had been found in the Mekong River, they grew worried.
A third dissident remained missing. And then in February, three more Laos-based activists critical of Thailand’s ruling junta vanished, last heard from in Vietnam.
The disappearances have struck fear into the band, whose music and online posts call for revolt against the military and criticise the monarchy, Thailand’s most sacred institution, and illegal to insult.
They and dozens of other activists who fled after a 2014 army coup think the junta is stepping up efforts to punish them, according to five dissidents who spoke to Reuters.
The disappearances began around the time Thai junta leader Prayut Chan-ocha visited Laos in December, activists say.
“Since December, we heard warnings from friends in Thailand that there would be teams sent from Thailand to get to us.
“Some said that 700 officials are involved in this kind of operation to track all exiles,” Worravut “Tito” Thueakchaiyaphum, a Faiyen member said.
Worravut, 30, said friendly officials in Laos urged exiles to go into hiding. They did, but now they say nowhere in Laos is safe.
He added that he had seen lists produced by the Thai government of wanted people that was provided to neighbouring nations.
“An official source showed us a secret official document listing the names of people in exile in Laos that Thai authorities want,” he said, without going into any more detail.
Reuters has not viewed the document.
“They are coming for sure. They’ll capture us, kidnap us, kill us, for sure,” Trairong “Khunthong” Sinseubpol, a 54-year-old singer for Faiyen, said in a recent video message on YouTube.
Reuters was unable to confirm the assertions that the Thai government was intensifying its efforts to punish dissidents or circulating wanted lists to other countries.
Thai authorities have told Reuters they had no role in the deaths.
The Lao Foreign Affairs Ministry did not respond to a request for comment and the Lao embassy in Bangkok did not return calls.
Trairong’s warning comes as Thailand prepares to swear in a new government after a disputed March 24 election.
Under electoral rules written by the military government, a proarmy political party is expected to elect Prayut as prime minister.
Trairong is one of about 50 Thai dissidents who have been based in Laos for years, according to Europebased activist group Action for People’s Democracy in Thailand, which opposes army rule.
The corpses recovered from the Thai side of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Laos, were identified in January as Chatcharn Buppawan, 56, and Kraidej Luelert, 46.
The bodies of the two men, who helped run an anti-junta radio programme called “Thailand Revolution” from Laos, were handcuffed and stuffed with concrete.
They disappeared at the same time as their colleague Surachai Danwattananusorn, 78, who was the face of the radio programme and also broke taboos – and was charged with violating Thailand’s strict “lese majeste” laws – by openly criticising the monarchy.
Reuters was unable to establish Surachai’s whereabouts.
Shortly after the bodies of Chatcharn and Kraidej were identified, three other Thai exiles decided to leave Laos.
Chucheep Chiwasut, who had been broadcasting political commentary to Thailand from exile, and fellow activists Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Thapthai were arrested in Vietnam and handed over to Thai authorities, according to US-based Thai Alliance for Human Rights, a prominent critic of the military, which declined to name its sources for fear of retaliation.
Chucheep had been formally charged with lese majeste.