Well-Known Human Rights Lawyer Thongbai Passes Away

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Lawyer Thongbai passes away

By The Nation

Magsaysay award-winner Lawyer Thongbai Thongpao, recognized for his hard works in defending the poor in human right cases, passed away Monday morning. He was 84 years old. Thongbai died of heart attack at 6:40 am.

The bathing rite was held at the Srimahathat Temple in Bang Khen at 4 pm. Praying rites will be held at the Pavilion 4 at 6:30 pm and the cremation will be held at 4 pm on Saturday.

Thongbai was recognised at the champion of the poor by representing them in human right cases.

His help to the poor prompted him be selected a Magsaysay award winner for public services in 1984. But he refused to travel to Philippines to receive the reward from then Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos, whom he regarded as having violated human rights.

Thongbai was a member of the constitution drafting assembly in 1996.

Sombat Wongkamhaeng, the spokesman of the Law Society of Thailand, said Thongbai's death was a great loss as he was a great lawyer who contributed to the society.

"He was a great man. We feel very sorry over the loss as it will be difficult to find anyone who devote himself and contribute to the society in human rights issue like him," Sombat said.

-- The Nation 2011-01-24

[Mobi]

I sincerely hope that I do not get warned or banned for just adding that for many years I enjoyed his writing and was sometimes inspired by Thongbai's often very brave stands that he made in his Bangkok Post articles.

He could not and would not be silenced and at a time when most journalists kowtowed to the government line, Thangbai stood out a s a shining light of what independent journalism is all about. He continually championed the underdogs and downtrodden in Thai society and made us see how corrupt and self-seeking so many Thai politicians have been through the years.

His photograph often accompanied his journalistic contributions and for some reason every time I looked at that brave gnarled countenance, it gave me hope and faith for the future.

RIP Thongbai Thongpao, your 'voice' will be sorely missed.

[asiawatcher]

A very inspirational Thai figure. He is the one who should have been meeting the ICC - not the red shirts vampires.

[siampolee]

The man was credit to journalism and the legal profession. His articles were always hard hitting yet softly written with no rancour or angst shown, I can only echo those comments already made by both Mobi and Asiawatcher..

Thongbai Thongpao, will be sadly missed by many people.

[SteeleJoe]

A very sad loss indeed.

RIP

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HUMAN-RIGHTS FIGHTER DIES

Lawyer Thongbai Thongpao, 84, inspired generations

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

Well-known human-rights lawyer and Magsaysay award winner Thongbai Thongpao died yesterday morning aged 84, after suffering heart failure.

Thongbai inspired generations of human-rights activists and will probably continue to do so, although some have expressed disappointment at his silence over the years following the 2006 military coup.

Born to a poor farming family with five siblings in the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, Thongbai was arguably the first modern lawyer to challenge the legitimacy of lese majeste laws, and gave legal help to social critic Sulak Sivaraksa in his fight against lese majeste charges in 1984.

Thongbai, who practised journalism on and off, was detained without charge as a political prisoner during the Cold War between 1958 and 1966 by then dictator Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, after he joined a group of journalists to visit Communist China.

"Thongbai was a man who fought for democracy all his life," Sulak told The Nation, upon hearing the news. "After he came out of jail, he helped those in need and is widely admired in the Northeast."

Known for his pro bono legal services for poor defendants, Thongbai refused to travel to accept the Magsaysay Award for Public Services from then President-cum-dictator Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines in 1984, citing Marcos' human-rights record and the shooting to death of opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino a year earlier.

"He fought against dictators," said Chulalongkorn University political science lecturer Naruemon Tabchumphon. "He was the first who [legally] fought against lese majeste laws and for labour cases. When defendants had no money to pay his fee he accepted rice or bananas."

Naruemon said Thongbai inspired many others when, after one of the darkest chapters in modern Thai political history - the lynching of leftist students in front of Thammasat University, where he once studied law - he fought against the military and legally represented people charged accused of being communists.

Thongbai worked with many newspapers in the late 1950s and 1960s, including Thai Mai, Pim Thai, Siam Nikorn, Supha Burut-Prachamit and Khao Phap. He was president of the Thai Writers' Association from 1984 to 1986.

In latter years, besides becoming a senator, Thongbai wrote a column for the Bangkok Post.

Some younger-generation activists who grew up learning about Thongbai's heroic deeds were disappointed when he remained mute as the 2006 military coup took place and last year when some red-shirt protesters were jailed in the aftermath of political violence.

"It was rather unfortunate that towards the end of his life he didn't speak up about political violence and political prisoners. We didn't hear these things from him. After the [2006] coup we didn't hear from Uncle Thongbai," said the editor of leftist Fah Diew Kan magazine, Thanaphol Eiw-sakul.

Others like Naruemon are more forgiving. He said that perhaps Thongbai was suffering health problems and was already too old to expect more from him.

Sulak said the taint to Thongbai's legacy would be his abandonment of his wife for a younger woman.

"Everyone has his or her shortcomings. He hurt his wife a lot, though," said Sulak, who acknowledged that the younger generation of human-rights lawyers had been inspired by the path down which Thongbai acted as a trailblazer.

Aware of his legendary soft spot for young women, human-rights activist Sarawut Pratooraj nevertheless regarded Thongbai as a pioneering human-rights lawyer who devoted his life to the public good.

A cremation service for Thong-bai will be held at the Srimahathat Temple in Bang Khen on Saturday.

-- The Nation 2011-01-25