The Nation profiles the three Thai activists who were detained by the Burmese junta and subsequently expelled.
RANGSIT University political scientist Charan Disthapichai is no stranger to political activism. Born in Phatthalung province, 51-year-old Charan grew up and studied in his home town until entering high school.
His first experience of life in Bangkok was as a freshman at Kasetsart University. His dislike of the Sotus (Seniority Order Tradition Unity and Spirit) system, so entrenched in the university at the time, led him to eventually transfer to Thammasat University. It was there, as a student of political science, that Charan co-founded ''Sapha na Dome'', an intellectual group which played a leading role in student politics prior to the October 1973 uprising.
By October 1976, when the brutal crack-down on students took place at Thammasat University, Charan was a member of the Socialist Party of Thailand. He was also among the demonstrators at Thammasat University.
During the crack-down, Charan hid in one of the university buildings. After six days in hiding, without food or water, Charan could ignore his thirst no longer. He was captured by the military while looking for water and imprisoned in a secret place and tortured for several weeks before being handed over to the Royal Thai Police Department's Special Branch Bureau, were he was subsequently placed in solitary confinement.
After enduring six months of solitary confinement, Charan managed to escape. Seeing no hope in justice under the law, he fled into the jungle of Nan province and joined the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT).
Three years later, even before the Cold War ended, Charan headed back home. He won a scholarship to further his studies in political science at the University of Paris. By 1989 he was back in Thailand and has since become a lecturer at Rangsit University. But he is more than just a lecturer, as the fires of political activism still burn within him, fuelled by his acute sense of justice, human rights and democracy.
Charan has always been active in political movements and vocal in denouncing human-rights violations. Charan was also the first to compile a history of the French Revolution in Thai, in detail and from the people's perspective. The work first appeared in a local newspaper and was later published as a book.
In 1976, the same year that Charan was arrested, Chanakarn Pandermwongse was born. Growing up with a mother who was a student activist at Ramkhamhaeng University, Chanakarn naturally developed keen insight into and strong empathy for the poor.
During her years at Satree Absornsawan, an all-female school, Chanakarn joined the Youth Training Programme, an active NGO which aims to foster social activism among students. It was her first experience with social activism and helped shape her future.
Chanakarn is a bright student with a natural predilection for academia. She was able to skip her final year of high school and go straight into university. She is in her last year in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Thammasat University.
Although Chanakarn is a former under-secretary of the Student Federation of Thailand and very much involved with the Forum of the Poor, it was the Burmese junta which presented an even greater challenge in her life.
Sawad Uppahard might still have been a low-profile northeastern villager if it was not for the Land Allocation for the Poor Project, also known as kor jor gor, which was launched in 1991.
Sawad, 37, who hails from Khon Kaen's Si Chomphu district, is the owner of 10 rai of land that was seized by the government and allocated in plots to other villagers who had been evicted when their forest land was earmarked for a national development project.
Realising that the government's seizure of the land he legally owned was unfair, Sawad vowed to take action. The government eventually returned his land, but that was not enough for Sawad, who has since become a much-needed ''voice for the voiceless'', protecting villagers' rights and championing their various causes.
''As human beings, [villagers] have the same rights as town-dwellers. We must defend these rights and demand equal recognition in the eyes of government,'' he often tells his colleagues.
In 1997 Sawad served in the Forum of the Poor as an adviser from the northeast. Because of his strong belief in human rights, he decided to join the multinational peacemaking team in supporting the pro-democracy movement in Burma. He is married and has two young daughters.
The Nation
