Pratheep Rakhanthong
Pratheep Rakhanthong is a member of the SPFT Management Committee and a member of the Khlong Sai Pattana community. The SPFT is 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. The Khlong Sai Pattana community is involved in a land dispute with oil palm plantations, and members of the community have been subjected to an ongoing campaign of harassment and violence since 2009, which has resulted in the killing of three human rights defenders.
Human rights defenders in Thailand face threats, physical assaults, arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, and extrajudicial killings. Trade unionists have been prosecuted because of their work and charged with organising illegal assemblies.
