Sunai Phasuk
Sunai Phasuk is a human rights defender and senior researcher on Thailand in Human Rights Watch's Asia division. He has specialised expertise in political, security and foreign policy analysis in the context of human rights and democratisation in Thailand and Burma. His recent works include extensive investigation and analysis of violence and human rights abuses in Thailand's conflict-ridden southern border provinces.
After seizing power in a 2014 coup, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has maintained its grip on the country through an array of restrictive laws. The junta’s intolerance of dissenting opinions has resulted in a challenging climate for human rights defenders. Judicial harassment, which remains one of the most common tools to silence HRDs, has intensified, with defamation and other criminal and civil charges being brought against them. There are reports of surveillance of HRDs, both physical and online, intimidation, public smear campaigns and threats. A number of events, including the launching of human rights reports, have been disrupted and public gatherings banned. HRDs also face physical assaults, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings.
HRDs most at risk include those who are fighting for economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights, particularly land rights, and those working in the conflict zone of the border provinces in Southern Thailand. There, violations against human rights organisations take place in a context of widespread impunity for the perpetrators – often government or military officials. Community-based HRDs engaged in protests and expressing concern about negative health, social, and environmental impacts related to industries operating in their localities are particularly at risk of being targeted.
