(Bangkok) – The Thai authorities should immediately take effective measures to protect the prominent members of parliament Angkhana Neelapaijit and Romadon Panjor and the human rights defender Anchana Heemmina, all of whom have been facing online death threats and attacks, Human Rights Watch said today.
On July 31, 2026, Angkhana, a senator and former member of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, filed a complaint with the Bangkok police under the Computer-Related Crime Act that numerous posts on social media accused her of being unpatriotic and sympathetic to the separatist group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front or BRN). Some posts said she should be killed or disappeared. Similar disinformation and hate campaigns were posted on social media against Anchana, founder of the Duay Jai human rights group, and Romadon, a member of parliament from the opposition People’s Party.
“The Thai authorities should urgently and impartially investigate online attacks, including death threats, against Angkhana, Anchana, and Romadon, who have been widely recognized for their work defending human rights in Thailand’s deep south,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Those responsible for serious threats should be brought to justice, regardless of their affiliation, to demonstrate Thailand’s commitment to protecting human rights defenders.”
Online attacks against Angkhana, Anchana, and Romadon have intensified since the insurgent attack in Ra Ngae district, Narathiwat province, on July 22 that killed five soldiers and injured six civilians. Some of the abusive social media posts come from accounts allegedly affiliated with the Thai government’s information operations. In June, the court of appeal ordered the Internal Security Operations Command to pay Angkhana and Anchana compensation for damages caused by smear campaigns.
People who speak out for human rights in Thailand’s deep south—the predominantly Muslim Malay provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, plus Songkhla—where the Thai government has fought the BRN insurgency since January 2004, face grave dangers, Human Rights Watch said. Online attacks appear to have led to real life violence.
In March 2004, Angkhana’s husband, human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, was abducted and his body has never been found. Substantial evidence implicated a group of police officers, who allegedly sought retaliation for Somchai’s involvement in lawsuits regarding widespread police torture of Muslim suspects in the deep south.
Over the past 22 years, there have been numerous attacks, including harassment, threats, assaults, enforced disappearances, killings, and unjust prosecutions targeting human rights defenders in the deep south. None of these cases have been successfully resolved by the Thai authorities, including the assassination attempt on Kamonsak Leewamoh, a Muslim member of parliament and prominent human rights lawyer in Narathiwat province in April 2026. The authorities issued arrest warrants for three former military personnel.
Human Rights Watch stated in its submission to the 53rd session of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of Thailand’s human rights record, scheduled for November, that successive Thai governments have failed to uphold their obligations to ensure human rights defenders can carry out their work in a safe and enabling environment, in line with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. In November 2025, UN human rights experts expressed concern about reports of death threats and online attacks against Angkhana and the Human Rights Watch Thailand senior adviser Sunai Phasuk as a result of their comments regarding possible international humanitarian law violations during the Thailand-Cambodia border conflict.
Thailand became a member of the UN Human Rights Council in 2025 and is expected to “uphold the highest standards in the protection and promotion of human rights.”
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul should commit to addressing attacks on human rights defenders and ensure that complaints of threats and harassment are swiftly and independently investigated. The Thai government should send a clear message that threats of violence will not be tolerated, Human Rights Watch said.
“Concerned governments and UN agencies should press Prime Minister Anutin to hold accountable those who threaten or attack human rights defenders,” Pearson said. “Thailand should show the world that it has earned its UN Human Rights Council membership.”
