Pianrat Boonrit
Pianrat Boonrit is the President of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand – SPFT (Southern Peasant Cooperatives), a network formed in 2008 to campaign for the right to agricultural land in the Khlong Sai Pattana community in Chaiburi District, Surat Thani Province and other areas in the region. SPFT has been active in supporting the Premsub Community in a land dispute involving Thai Boonthong, an oil palm company. Reportedly, the disputed land belongs to the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ARLO), which in 2009 allowed the villagers to remain on the land until the resolution of the dispute, as the company’s concession for the territory had ended 15 years before. However, it is reported that the company continues to occupy the land and that the villagers are at ongoing risk of forced eviction.
Human rights defenders in Thailand face threats, physical assaults, arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, and extrajudicial killings. HRDs most at risk include those working with migrants, particularly along the border with Burma, those who are fighting for economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights, and those working in the conflict zone of the three border provinces in Southern Thailand.
