Cambodia/Thailand: Six years on, authorities must act on the enforced disappearance of Wanchalearm Satsaksit

Bangkok, Geneva, Paris, 4 June 2026. On 4 June 2020, Wanchalearm was abducted in broad daylight outside his apartment in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He has never been seen since and authorities in both Thailand and Cambodia have failed to take appropriate action to determine Wanchalearm’s fate and whereabouts.

In Cambodia, national investigations and cross-border cooperation have been severely undermined by systematic flaws and political inertia. Local authorities repeatedly ignored vital evidence, including eyewitness testimonies and available CCTV footage capturing the abduction, while judicial proceedings faced extensive delays that impacted the timely collection and preservation of evidence. In March 2024, during its review of Cambodia, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)expressed concern over this lack of progress and called upon the authorities to determine Wanchalearm’s fate. Regrettably, in December 2025, the Cambodian authorities decided to close the investigation into Wanchalearm’s abduction, without identifying a single suspect. In April 2026, the CED requested the Cambodian government adopt measures to search for Wanchalearm, including through coordination with Thai authorities, and ensure that his relatives and representatives have access to information related to his case and can participate in the search and investigation processes.

In Thailand, authorities have likewise failed to pursue effective avenues for accountability. Despite repeated formal requests submitted by Wanchalearm's family and their legal representatives to multiple state institutions, there has been minimal evidence of substantive efforts to advance the investigation or secure effective cooperation with the Cambodian authorities. Such failure has occurred despite the entry into force of the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act in 2023 and Thailand's ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) in 2024. In April 2026, the CED registered Wanchalearm’s case in relation to Thailand, as the victim’s country of nationality. The CED also requested Thailand establish mechanisms for cooperation and judicial assistance with the Cambodian authorities to strengthen the search and investigation processes related to Wanchalearm’s enforced disappearance, and to ensure the participation of his relatives and representatives in those processes.

As state parties to the ICPPED, both Thailand and Cambodia are bound by Articles14 and 15 of the convention to provide mutual legal assistancein connection with criminal proceedings brought in respect to enforced disappearancesand to cooperate with each other in assisting victims and searching for disappeared persons.

Wanchalearm’s case is part of a broader pattern of transnational repression targeting dissenting voices across Southeast Asia. Between 2016 and 2019, nine Thai pro-democracy activists living in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, including Wanchalearm himself, disappeared under similarly alarming circumstances. In February 2024, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) concluded that these incidents likely constituted enforced disappearances under the ICPPED, pointing to the involvement of Thai state officials. The NHRCT report highlighted critical systemic shortcomings and inadequate international cooperation, which have left the victims’ families suffering severe psychological and security impacts amid profound legal uncertainty. Rather than receiving support and protection, relatives have frequently faced external pressure. For instance, Wanchalearm’s sister, Sitanan Satsaksit, has been a victim of harassment, surveillance, and intimidation directly linked to her ongoing advocacy efforts.

FIDH, OMCT, TLHR, and CrCF reiterate their solidarity with Wanchalearm’s family and loved ones. They urge the Cambodian and Thai authorities to conduct prompt, thorough, independent, and transparent investigations to determine the fate and whereabouts of Wanchalearm, and to fully cooperate under their ICPPED obligations to ensure that those responsible are identified and held accountable. They further call on both governments to guarantee the right of relatives and their legal representatives to participate safely and actively in the search and investigation processes at all stages, including by ensuring they are regularly informed of any progress and findings.

Background

Wanchalearm Satsaksit, an outspoken critic of the military junta that ruled Thailand between 2014 and 2019, was reported to be on a list of individuals accused of violating Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code (lèse-majesté), for whom the Thai police had issued arrest warrants. He fled to Cambodia from Thailand after the May 2014 military coup d’état.

Wanchalearm was last seen on the afternoon of 4 June 2020 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. According to eyewitness testimonies, Wanchalearm was kidnapped in front of his condominium in Phnom Penh by a group of unidentified men dressed in black. Wanchalearm was taken away in a dark blue/black Toyota Highlander SUV with license plate number 2X2307. During a final phone call with his sister, he was heard saying “I can't breathe” before the line abruptly disconnected.