Thailand protests: missing activist Wanchalerm fuels challenge to military, royal elite

Self-exiled Thai activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit, who disappeared in broad daylight in Cambodia, has become an icon in ongoing demonstrations

Intensifying calls for an overhaul of Thailand’s state structure and royal reform have deepened divisions in society

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A protester holds a portrait of allegedly kidnapped Thai activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:15pm, 29 Oct 2020Updated: 9:28pm, 25 Nov 2020

The sister of a Thai activist who disappeared during his self-exile in Cambodia believes her brother’s suspected abduction has helped galvanise the current pro-democracy movement against the unpopular government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Wanchalerm Satsaksit was in June pulled into a van on a Phnom Penh street in broad daylight and has not been seen since. Rights groups have called on Cambodia and Thailand to investigate the incident, which was partly captured on security cameras.

The 37-year-old, who fled an arrest warrant issued by Thailand’s junta in 2014, continued to post satirical attacks against Prayuth’s government from abroad, fuelling suspicions he was abducted.

Posters of his smiling face holding up the protest emblem – a three-fingered salute from The Hunger Games – have in recent months featured at mass rallies demanding reform of Thailand’s government and monarchy.

Anti-government protests have rocked the Thai capital in recent months. Photo: EPA

His sister, Sitanan Satsaksit, who addressed university students at a human rights forum on Wednesday night, was adamant the Thai state knows something about her brother’s disappearance. Thai officials have strenuously denied these claims and Cambodia has said it has no leads.

“The state has some involvement in his disappearance and I have said this many times,” Sitanan said.

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