Lao content creator and activist Khieo Lapchanh has been missing from Samut Sakhon since September 15, a day before he was due to attend an asylum interview with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok.
The 26-year-old had been living and working at a restaurant in Samut Sakhon after entering Thailand in 2019. The Thailand-based Manushya Foundation says it fears he may have been abducted or returned to Laos.
Missed interview prompts alarm
Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder and executive director of the Manushya Foundation, said she became concerned on September 16, when Khieo failed to answer calls before the planned UNHCR appointment.
"I called him because I was supposed to take him to his UNHCR interview, but he did not respond," she told Radio Free Asia. "On Sept 18, I informed the local police of his disappearance."
The owner of the restaurant where he worked, who identified herself only as Kiatsuda, said Khieo had also failed to report for work on September 15. His telephone was switched off when she tried to call him.
After he did not turn up over the following two days, she went to his apartment on September 18 but could not find him. She also filed a police report.
Videos critical of Laos
Khieo had sought asylum after receiving threats linked to videos he began posting on Facebook in late 2025, according to a letter prepared with help from the Manushya Foundation.
His "Khiew Chennel" Facebook account, which carried videos critical of the Lao government, had 159,000 followers this week.
Ms Emilie said there was a high possibility the disappearance was connected to transnational repression. "Digital transnational repression does not stay confined to digital space. It can expose activists to physical danger," she said.
"Khieo had already stopped speaking out online because he feared for his life. Now he is missing."
Earlier cases remain unresolved
His case follows other disappearances and deaths involving Lao activists connected with Thailand. Democracy activist Od Sayavong disappeared in August 2019 after protesting against the Lao government while living in Thailand; Thai police say there has been no progress in the investigation.
Later that year, Lao migrant Phetphouthon Philachane disappeared in Vientiane while visiting relatives. He had joined protests outside the Lao embassy in Bangkok.
In May 2023, democracy activist Bounsuan Kitiyano was found dead in Ubon Ratchathani province after being shot three times.
Human Rights Watch has described informal cross-border cooperation between Thailand and governments including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China as a "swap mart", referring to the harassment, arrest or unlawful deportation of refugees and dissidents.
Picture courtesy of Manushya Foundation
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2 October 2026
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