Prachatai’s person of the year

Clipped from Prachatai

Prachatai has named Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom as its Person of the Year for 2024.

This designation is for “a person or group of people who have played an important role in social and political change… They are also often more at risk of threats and harassment.”

Of course, Netiporn died in state custody on 14 May 2024, aged just 28. She was “held in pre-trial detention on a contempt of court charge and after undergoing a long hunger strike to demand judicial reform.”

Her death led to questions about the treatment of detainees and demands for the release of political prisoners.

A self-described former conservative, by 2020 she had “joined the student rights group Bad Student to campaign against school dress and hairstyle code before becoming a founding member of the monarchy reform activist group ThaluWang.” ThaluWang directly targeted the monarchy in creative but confronting ways.

Her activities saw her charged seven times, including two 112 charges.

Netiporn was detained twice. The first time, “a hunger strike to protest their detention before being granted bail after 64 days of hunger strike and 94 days of detention.” The second time, Netiporn immediately went on “a hunger strike to demand judicial reform and an end to the detention of political dissidents.”

Tragically, on “14 May 2024, it was reported that Netiporn was pronounced dead at Thammasat University Hospital, where she had been transferred from the Corrections Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.”

There’s been no investigation of the circumstances of her death, with the state refusing to provide evidence. It is reported that there will be “an inquest hearing will be held at the Thanyaburi Provincial Court on 13 January 2025 at 13.00.”

Read the whole article.