Surachai Danwattananusorn | |
---|---|
สุรชัย ด่านวัฒนานุสรณ์ | |
Born |
Pak Phanang,
Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand | 24 December 1942
Disappeared | 10 December 2018 (aged 75) Vientiane, Laos |
Status | Missing for 5 years, 5 months and 16 days |
Alma mater | Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University ( B.A.) |
Political party | |
Movement | Communist Party of Thailand |
Surachai Danwattananusorn ( Thai: สุรชัย ด่านวัฒนานุสรณ์; born 24 December 1942, disappeared 10 December 2018) is a Thai political activist and former political prisoner. He was the last communist to be pardoned in Thailand, and after his release he entered mainstream politics, becoming a committee member of the Thai Rak Thai Party and founding the Red Siam political movement. Surachai is known for his anti-monarchist views, which have resulted in a past arrest under Thailand's lèse majesté laws.
Surachai has been in exile in neighbouring Laos since the Thai military coup of 2014. [1] He disappeared after the murder of two other anti-monarchist activists in December 2018. [2]
Surachai became well known after the Thammasat University massacre, as he was a prominent member of the Communist Party of Thailand. He was sentenced to death for murder and his participation in a train robbery but received a royal pardon in 1988.[ citation needed]
After his release, Surachai entered mainstream politics, first as a member of the New Aspiration Party under the leadership of Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and later as a Thai Rak Thai Party candidate for the House of Representatives. He also ran for the senate seat of Nakhon Si Thammarat, but was never elected to any office.[ citation needed]
In 2006, Surachai participated in protests to oust the Council for National Security junta. Afterwards, he established the Red Siam political movement with Jakrapob Penkair.[ citation needed]
On 6 August 2007, while on stage at a United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship rally, Surachai allegedly insulted then-Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. He was found guilty by a criminal court and was fined 50,000 baht, but the fine was later reduced by half after Surachai confessed to the crime. [3]
Surachai was arrested again on 22 February 2011, this time according to the arrest warrant of the Criminal Court 27/2554, for committing lèse majesté at a speech near Sanam Luang. [4] On 28 February 2012, The Criminal Court sentenced him to 7 years and 6 months in prison. [5] However, Surachai received a royal pardon on 3 October 2013. [6]
Surachai Danwattananusorn was born Surachai Saedan ( Thai: สุรชัย แซ่ด่าน; Chinese: 陳嘉前) on 24 December 1942 in Thaphaya Tumbol, Pak Phanang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. He was the son of Yokyuan and Somchao Saedan. Surachai graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. He has married three times, and has three sons and a daughter.
Surachai disappeared from Vientiane, Laos, in December 2018. His spouse last heard from him on 10 December. [1] Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha visited Vientiane on 13 December. Two of his aides, Chatchan "Phoo Chana" Boonphawal and Kraidet "Kasalong" Luelert, [7] also in exile in Vientiane, were last seen in Laos on 11 December before they too disappeared. [8]
On 26 and 27 December 2018, the bodies of the two aides were discovered floating in the Mekong River near Nakhon Phanom. [9] [10] [11] Reports of a third body being found have been denied by Thai authorities. [12] [13] As of January 2019 [update] Surachai remains missing.
Some in the Thai media see the forced disappearances and murders as a warning to anti-monarchists. [14]
Human Rights Watch has documented the disappearance of two other Thai activists in Laos, one in 2016 and another in 2017. [15] [8] [16] The number of "disappeared" Thai activists exiled in Laos may be as high as five since 2015. [17]
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