Disappearance of Billy Rakchongcharoen

Billy Rakchongcharoen
Born Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen
Disappeared 17 April 2014
Phetchaburi Province, Thailand
Status Missing for 4 years and 6 months

Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, a Karen environmental and community activist, was last seen in Kaeng Krachan National Park, western Phetchaburi Province, Thailand on 17 April 2014. He was arrested at a park checkpoint by park superintendent Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn and four of his men for alleged illegally collecting wild honey in the forest. Three years earlier, in 2011, Billy had filed a lawsuit against Chiwat over the May 2011 destruction and burning of houses, and eviction of over 20 Karen families living in the park's Pong Luk Bang Kloy village, in the Huai Mae Phriang Sub-district of Kaeng Krachan District. The national park chief later swore that Billy had been arrested and released on the same day after being questioned for possession of an illegal wild bee honeycomb and six bottles of honey.[1] There are no official records of his arrest or detention.[2] Following Billy's arrest he was never seen again.[3][4][5]

Background

Kaeng Krachan forest has been the ancestral home to tribes of ethnic Karen peoples. In 1979, the Thai government designated areas of the forest as "protected", forcing the Karen to leave their homes. Authorities insisted that the Karen crop rotation system was a threat to the forest ecosystem.[6] In May 2011, officers of the Kaeng Krachan National Park forcibly evicted and burned about 100 houses and rice barns of Karen villagers in Pong Luk Bang Kloy.[7]

Shortly after Billy's disappearance, his wife, Pinnapha Phrueksapan, requested that the court hold an emergency trial under Article 90 of the Criminal Procedure Code to investigate his alleged unlawful detention. The Court of First Instance ruled that evidence of the unlawful detention of Billy was insufficient.[5] Royal Thai Police Region 7 investigators filed charges in early–2015 under Article 157 of the Criminal Code, "malfeasance in office", against Chaiwat and four other park officers for the alleged unlawful detention of Billy.[5]

After two years, the investigation of Billy's disappearance had made no progress. Thailand has no enforced disappearance laws, so Karen villagers filed a lawsuit against the alleged perpetrators for unlawfully detaining the activist. On 17 April 2016, at Kaeng Krachan District Police Station, Phetchaburi Province, villagers from the Karen Network for Culture and Environment filed a complaint against Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, former Superintendent of Kaeng Krachan National Park. He and his four colleagues were alleged to have been involved in the disappearance of Polarjee. The case is under investigation by several agencies, but no progress has been made on the case.[5]

In June 2018 the Supreme Administrative Court reaffirmed that ethnic Karen villagers cannot return to their homes in Kaeng Krachan National Park. Their houses were burned down down by park officials in 2011. The court noted that villagers did not have ownership documents for the land they were evicted from making them ineligible to claim ownership or return to live there. The villagers argued that their families had lived in the park for over a century, long before the forest was made a national park in 1979. The court did find former park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn guilty of malfeasance for torching over 100 Karen houses. He was ordered to pay damages of 50,000 baht on average to each of the six plaintiffs within 30 days of the ruling.[8]

On 28 June 2018, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced that it will re-open the investigation into Billy's disappearance. Media reports intimated that the DSI's change of heart was due to pressure on the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration from international organizations regarding a case that was initially ignored, leading the media to doubt DSI's newfound commitment.[9] The Bangkok Post called DSI's newfound interest in the case, "...a ceremonial move to appease international human rights defenders."[10] Earlier in June, the Supreme Administrative Court found former park official Chaiwat guilty of malfeasance for setting fire to more than 100 Karen houses in the park. He was ordered to pay compensation of about 50,000 baht per house to six plaintiffs. In the same ruling, the court said the displaced ethnic Karen could not return to their homes in the park because they did not possess property deeds.[11] The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), an international human rights non-governmental organisation, on 26 July 2018, urged the DSI to expedite their latest investigation. The ICJ charged that the case was moving at a "glacial pace" before the DSI accepted it.[12]

Timeline

Date Event
May 2011Destruction of Karen village and relocation of residents to Bang Kloy Lang village in the national park.[5][13]
2014-04-17Porlajee disappeared on 17 April 2014 after assisting Karen villagers of Pong Luk Bang Kloy file a lawsuit against Chaiwat in the Administrative Court for allegedly ordering the eviction of Karen villagers and burning Karen homes in May 2011.
2014-09-16An emergency trial request was submitted by Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, Billy's wife, to the Appeals Court after the Court of First Instance ruled earlier that evidence of the unlawful detention of Billy was insufficient.[14]
2015-01-29Royal Thai Police Region 7 investigators file charges under Article 157 of the Criminal Code (malfeasance in office) against Chaiwat and four other park officers for the alleged unlawful detention of Billy.[15]
2015-02-27Appeals Court dismisses a request to hold an emergency trial under Article 90 of the Criminal Procedure Code to investigate the alleged unlawful detention of Billy, citing lack of evidence.[14]
2016-01-14The Sub-Committee on Civil Rights of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), meets to review progress in the case. The lead investigator testifies that the testimony of Kaeng Krachan National Park officers who detained Billy was "inconsistent". Police post a 200,000 baht reward for information.[16]
2016-04-17At Kaeng Krachan District Police Station, villagers from the Karen Network for Culture and Environment file a complaint against Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, a suspect in the enforced disappearance of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen.
2016-05-03Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, the prime suspect in the enforced disappearance of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, is promoted to head a new Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) forest and wildlife protection unit called the "Tiger Corps Operation Unit".[17]
2016-09-07The Thai Administrative Court rules that national park officers did not break the law in burning the houses of members of the Karen ethnic minority in Kaeng Krachan National Park.[7]
2017The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) ruled that Billy's wife could not petition the department on grounds that she was not legally married to Billy. DSI also stated that the investigation could only proceed if his body is found, highlighting Thailand's lack of an enforced disappearance statute.[18]
2018-04-17The investigation of Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn has been pending with the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) since 2014 with no progress in the case.[19]
2018-04-18The Justice Ministry denies that no progress has been made in the case. The ministry "needs more information" to decide whether to refer the case to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) is investigation why officers released Billy without charge. The Special Investigation Board is waiting for information from the PACC before it considers whether to accept the case as "special".[20]
2018-06-28The DSI announce that it will re-open the investigation of Billy's disappearance.[11]

Independent film director Pimpaka Towira produced a 30-minute film entitled, The Purple Kingdom, inspired by Billy's disappearance.[21] The film appeared in 2016, but has not been screened widely. Pimpaka says she became aware of Billy through his short movie The Way of Lives, which tells the story of Karen villagers living in Kaeng Krachan National Park's Bangkloi community. The film draws attention to inequalities in Thai society by comparing two women whose husbands have gone missing. While Namthip, the fictional name of Billy's wife in the film, is treated indifferently by authorities when she tries to file a missing persons report with the police, Woon, the fictional wife in the parallel story, is enthusiastically aided by police in finding her husband who was killed in a helicopter crash in the jungle. In real life, it took Pinnapa "Minor" Pruksapan, Billy's real-world wife, more than four years to convince authorities to begin an investigation into Billy's disappearance. "Is it because I'm poor and don't have any money to pay them so the officials are not interested in helping me?", she asks.[22]

Other victims

Billy is not the only Thai activist to have been "disappeared" or harmed.[23][24] As of 2016, according to the UN, there were 82 cases of enforced disappearance alone documented in Thailand.[16]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Charoen Wat-aksorn[25]
  • Prawet Prapanukul[26]
  • Wutthipong "Ko Tee" Kochathmmakun[27]
  • Den Khamlae, Khok Yao land rights activist, disappeared mid-April 2016.[28]
  • Somchai Neelapaijit, human rights activist

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wife pushes Thai authorities to investigate disappearance of Karen activist husband". Pratchatai English. 2015-08-06. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Thailand: 6 months on, where is Karen activist 'Billy'? Last seen with local officials". Pratchatai English. 2014-10-21. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Ekachai, Sanitsuda (2018-05-03). "It's time to end land rights double standards". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Mydans, Seth (2016-05-23). "Murdered After Defending Thailand's Environment". New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ex-park head accused of unlawfully detaining missing Karen activist". Pratchatai English. 2016-04-18. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Somjittranukit, Kornkritch (2017-04-05). "Where is Billy and justice for his people? Karen lives of struggle". Pratchatai English. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Court confirms authorities' right to burn Karen houses". Pratchatai English. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Jotikasthira, Om; Wipatayotin, Apinya (13 June 2018). "Cash but no home for Karen". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "DSI faces an uphill battle in 'Billy' case" (Editorial). Bangkok Post. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Ko-ee loses fight to return home" (Opinion). Bangkok Post. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  11. 1 2 Rojanaphruk, Pravit (28 June 2018). "DSI to Look For Disappeared 'Billy', Four Years Later". Khaosod English. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Laohong, King-Oua (27 July 2018). "Jurists ask for speed in new 'Billy' probe". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  13. ↑ Wangkiat, Paritta (2014-06-08). "Villagers in fear of park chief's return". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  14. 1 2 "Appeal court dismisses request for emergency trial to find missing Karen activist". Pratchatai English. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  15. ↑ "Police file charge against park officers over Billy's disappearance". Pratchatai English. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Police say testimony on disappearance of Karen activist is flawed". Pratchatai English. 2016-01-19. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  17. ↑ "Suspect in disappearance of Karen activist appointed park protection chief". Pratchatai English. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Four years after the disappearance of prominent defender "Billy"". Pratchatai English. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Home DSI refuses to accept case of disappeared Karen activist". Pratchatai English. 2017-01-31. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  20. ↑ Laohong, King-Oua (2018-04-18). "Missing activist case may be referred to DSI". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "The Purple Kingdom" (Includes teaser). Extravirgin. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Panyaarvudh, Jintana (2 August 2018). "Making the case for equality". The Nation. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Slideshow: Murdered After Defending Thailand's Environment" (Slideshow). New York Times. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Thailand: For Those Who Died Trying". Luke Duggleby. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  25. ↑ "Justice Denied for Murdered Thai Activist Who Defended His Community Against Coal". EcoWatch. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  26. ↑ "Thailand: Rights Lawyer Feared 'Disappeared'". Human Rights Watch. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  27. ↑ Rojanaphruk, Pravit (2017-07-31). "THAI MONARCHY CRITIC IN EXILE REPORTEDLY 'DISAPPEARED,' JUNTA DENIES KNOWLEDGE". Khaosod English. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  28. ↑ Jisue, Kawintra (5 September 2018). "DSI looks for evidence of 2016 activist disappearance". The Nation. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
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