Thailand urged to investigate online attacks on rights defenders

Thailand is facing calls for an impartial investigation after Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit filed a police complaint over online death threats and Human Rights Watch urged authorities to protect her and two other rights figures.

Angkhana filed the complaint with Bangkok police on July 31 under Thailand’s Computer-Related Crime Act, according to Human Rights Watch. She reported social-media posts accusing her of being unpatriotic and sympathetic to the Barisan Revolusi Nasional, or BRN, a separatist group active in Thailand’s deep south. Some posts called for her killing or disappearance.

Similar disinformation and hate campaigns targeted Anchana Heemmina, founder of the Duay Jai human-rights group, and Romadon Panjor, an opposition lawmaker from the People’s Party.

The immediate development is a police complaint and a rights group’s demand for an investigation—not a completed criminal finding. Human Rights Watch said Thai authorities should investigate the threats, identify those responsible and provide protection to the three targets.

Attacks intensified after Narathiwat assault

Human Rights Watch said the online attacks intensified after an insurgent attack in Ra Ngae district, Narathiwat province, on July 22. The Associated Press reported that attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at a security checkpoint, killing five soldiers and injuring six civilians, including a 10-year-old boy.

Narathiwat, along with Yala and Pattani, is part of Thailand’s predominantly Muslim deep south, where a separatist insurgency has continued since 2004. The region has experienced recurring violence, security operations and disputes over the treatment of its Malay Muslim population.

That setting is central to the new threats. Online accusations portraying rights monitors or politicians as supporters of an insurgency can increase personal danger while narrowing space for criticism of security policies, alleged abuses and civilian harm.

Government-linked accounts remain an allegation

Human Rights Watch said some abusive posts allegedly came from accounts affiliated with Thai government information operations. That attribution has not been independently established as a finding about the July attacks. The claim should therefore be investigated rather than presented as proof that the Thai government directed the campaign.

The allegation carries added significance because Angkhana and Anchana recently won a separate case involving an earlier smear campaign. On June 11, Thailand’s Court of Appeal ordered the Internal Security Operations Command, or ISOC, to pay 120,000 baht to Angkhana and 90,000 baht to Anchana and to remove the online material at issue, according to FORUM-ASIA.

Prachatai English reported that a United Nations special rapporteur welcomed the judgment, saying it recognized the harm caused by coordinated digital attacks and disinformation campaigns against the two defenders. The ruling concerned the earlier campaign, not the July 2026 threats. It does not establish who is behind the new attacks, and the status of implementation remains an issue to watch.

What happens next

The next steps will show whether Thai authorities treat the complaint as a serious protection and criminal-investigation matter. Key questions include whether police identify suspects, whether officials respond publicly, whether platforms remove threatening material and whether the June judgment is implemented.

For rights defenders in Thailand’s deep south, the broader test is whether authorities can pursue genuine security threats without treating human-rights advocacy or opposition speech as support for an insurgency.

Sources

• Human Rights Watch: Thailand — Investigate Online Attacks Against Rights Defenders
• Associated Press: Thai authorities hunt suspects after Narathiwat attack
• Prachatai English: UN rapporteur welcomes Thailand disinformation ruling