enforced disappearance
From left: Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Wanchalearm Satsaksit; Khliang Huot, former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Prime Minister Hun Sen; Front: Wanchalearm Satsaksit and Phnom Penh deputy governor Khliang Huot (Photo illustration: Michael Dickison)

Who Is Wanchalearm?

He worked for the current Bangkok governor and was photographed with an ousted Thai premier and a current Phnom Penh deputy governor. Missing since 2020, Wanchalearm Satsaksit also helped other Thai dissidents flee to Cambodia. But his associates have sought to erase all ties.

illustration of people holding Wanchalearm masks over their faces

What Happened to Wanchalearm?

A year after Wanchalearm Satsaksit vanished, authorities say there is no proof he was abducted in Phnom Penh. A joint investigation reveals details of the Thai dissident’s escape from Thailand, life in exile in Cambodia and the last days before he disappeared.

Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a Thai pro-democracy activist, in a screenshot from a video posted to his Facebook page on June 3, 2020, the day before he was abducted in Phnom Penh.

Gov’t Told UN: We Have No Leads on Thai Dissident’s Abduction

Cambodian authorities told the U.N. that the visa of Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a missing Thai dissident living in exile in Phnom Penh, had expired almost three years ago when questioned about his alleged abduction from outside his apartment by armed men in June.