Adapted by Alisa Santikarn from original text by Jarik Krobthong

Photographs by Natthaphon Phanphongsanon

Commemorating Billy Porlajee: A Community Remembers

On April 15–17, 2025, the Save Bangkloi Coalition, in collaboration with the "Bangkloi Return Home" group, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), the Movement for the Elimination of Discrimination (MovED), Sirindhorn Anthropology Center, Rebel Art Space, and the Network of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand, jointly organized an event commemorating 11 years since the enforced disappearance of Mr. Billy Porlajee, a Karen Pga K’nyau community leader from Bangkloi village. The event, entitled "11 Years of Waiting: 11 Acts of Solidarity for Justice for Billy” was held at Pong Luek–Bangkloi Village in Kaeng Krachan national park and Natural World Heritage Site in Phetchaburi Province. Our GloCo postdoc, Alisa Santikarn, attended this event as part of her fieldwork supported by funding from the ERC, to interview the Pga K’nyau people at Bangkloi about how their resettlement from their ancestral land in the national park has impacted their traditions.

Honoring Billy Porlajee and His Legacy

The commemoration honored Billy, a community member who was forcibly disappeared on 17 April 2014, after advocating for justice and the rights of the Karen Pga K’nyau in Bangkloi to return to their ancestral lands within the national park, known as Jai Paendin / Upper Bangkloi. These lands had long been home to the Bangkloi community before the area was declared a protected area. Billy’s activism was a struggle to reclaim these rights after repeated state-led relocations, beginning with the park's establishment in 1981.

The event was also a commemoration for newer community leaders who had advocated for the community’s right to return to their ancestral land, including Gift Tonnamphet, who passed away in 2024 from dengue fever, having been denied access to public health services, and elder Ko-ee Mimee, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 107.

Activities included screening documentaries and films showcasing the struggles of the Bangkloi people; a youth-focused art workshop on community life led by Rebel Art Space – a Bangkok-based collective focused on art as a form of social justice; a banner-making session marking the 11th anniversary of Billy’s disappearance and the community’s continued struggle; house visits and sessions to record the community’s ongoing concerns led by MovED; a community theater workshop to build storytelling confidence and strengthen local bonds, culminating in a performance by the local children; musical performances by Nam Anchalee and Aey Kuljira, followed by traditional Karen ‘tae na’ music by Grandma Pho from Pong Luek–Bangkloi; and an intergenerational water blessing ritual to foster community unity, as the event coincided with the Songkran festival.

Banners made during one of the activities hanging from the bridge connecting Bangkloi and Pong Leuk villages. Photo taken by Natthaphon Phanphongsanon on 16 April 2025.

Voices of Remembrance and Resolve

The official commemoration ceremony honored the disappeared and deceased community members, including Billy and Gift. It began with a statement from Mr. Kriangkrai Cheechuang, President of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Thailand, translated into Karen by Bank (Phongsak Ton Nam Phet):

“For 11 years, Bangkloi people have persevered. We don’t know when true happiness will return, but what matters is how much we still love each other and remember those who fought for us.”

Youth leader Jan Ton Nam Phet said:

“Since my mother Gift passed away over a year ago, everything feels so quiet. We don’t know where our struggle stands now, but we’re doing our best to continue her dream to return to Upper Bangkloi.”

Bank reflected:

“I didn’t know much when Billy started his fight, but he brought us along to learn. After he disappeared, Gift stepped up. She couldn’t speak Thai well, couldn’t read or write, but she was determined. She told our family: ‘If someone disappears fighting for us, we can’t do nothing.’ That’s what sparked my journey. Even though Grandpa Ko-ee, Billy, and Gift are no longer here, we at ‘Bangkloi Return Home’ vow to keep fighting.”

Pinnapha 'Muenor' Phrueksapan, Billy Porlajee’s wife, holds a lit candle in remembrance of the 11th anniversary of her husband’s disappearance. Photo taken by Natthaphon Phanphongsanon on April 16, 2025.

Community Concerns and Legal Developments

Following the formal ceremony, youth from the Bangkloi community performed the play they had developed as part of the earlier theater workshop and the evening ended with a panel discussion featuring Jan – speaking on the Bangkloi community current issues and needs (predominantly in terms of healthcare and disease prevention) and Bank from the Bangkloi Return Home, representatives from MovED, and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of CrCF, moderated by the Save Bangkloi Coalition, with translation into Pga K’nyau by P’Maeo (Suchart Tonnamphet).

Ms Pornpen noted that “Even to this day, Billy’s family and everyone at Bang Kloy still haven’t received justice—both in terms of land rights and in being criminalized under forestry laws. Even though in our hearts we know that Billy is in heaven now, justice has yet to be served. The legal proceedings against those arrested in 2021 are still with the public prosecutor. Our people are still waiting for resolutions. From the time Billy was forcibly disappeared until now—11 years have passed—and justice has still not prevailed.”

On the legal front, Mr. Kriengkrai spoke about the progress of the proposed Ethnic Groups Protection and Promotion Act—a bill that was recently proposed to try to protect the rights of Thailand’s Indigenous Peoples—and its relevance to the Bangkloi community.

The key points of the bill include:

Definition – Although the Indigenous Peoples Network and the Council of Indigenous Peoples have advocated for the term “Indigenous Peoples,” the bill uses “ethnic groups” instead, after parliament voted to exclude the term ‘Indigenous’ from the wording of the bill in January 2025. One key category of ethnic groups, however, includes those living in conservation forests—like the people of Bangkloi.
Rights – The bill recognizes the rights of the ethnic communities.
Mechanisms – The proposed law introduces a Council of Indigenous Peoples as a platform for voicing concerns.
Protected Areas – This topic remains a contentious issue. The bill intends to establish protected lands that uphold ethnic dignity—protecting both land and spiritual sites. However, Article 27, which exempted land declared as ‘cultural protection areas’ from other national resource/forestry laws, was removed following the bill’s second reading in parliament.
Transitional Provisions – Communities and related agencies must support the documentation of localized data to affirm claims to protected areas.

Revisiting the Resettlement and Its Impact

Bank, a representative from the Bangkloi Return Home, spoke about the ongoing land struggle. He asked the community members in the audience, “How many of you have no land to farm? How many want to return to Jai Paen Din/Upper Bang Kloy for farmland?” He then provided some background on how the community came to be relocated in their current village in Bangkloi:

Back in 1996, during the resettlement, “officials told us to try living in the new area first, and if it didn’t work out, we could return.” The Karen people trusted those words, as verbal promises held weight.

Bank shared that “They said they would provide land and take care of us for three years. But the land we were given was farmland belonging to Pong Luek villagers, so their land was reduced. And the promised support only came once—just one round of rice and dry food supplies. Grandpa Ko-ee then decided to return. This led to the burning of rice barns and the start of the ‘Tanao Sri Operation,’ which branded us as forest invaders. Some of us had to live with relatives, creating land disputes because resources had to be shared in crowded conditions.”

“This shows that the government's imposed solution made life unbearable. We believe Upper Bang Kloy is our ancestral land. So we decided to return. As a result, 30 people were arrested, with nearly 20 facing charges—two of whom were minors. The case is now with the prosecutor.”

GloCo Postdoc, Alisa Santikarn, on a tour of Bangkloi Village. Photograph by Natthaphon Phanphongsanon, 17 April 2025.

Administrative Efforts and Uncertain Progress

Speaking on current efforts to return home, Bank noted that the initial government committee tasked with this issue did not recognize the Bangkloi people as locals. Bangkloi Return Home pushed for an independent committee with no conflicts of interest, which later confirmed that the community is from Upper Bangkloi, but the committee lacked decision-making power. They submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which would allow the community to return for a trial period of five years to prove that their presence would not harm the forest.

Bangkloi Return Home also joined the civil society organisation—People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move)—which meets every four years to present community demands. Under the current administration of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the group submitted the same request to return to Upper Bangkloi. The conclusion was to form a three-party committee—civil society, academia, and state representatives, which the Minister of Natural Resources signed off on on February 11, 2025.

However, as of now, there has been no progress. The community is still waiting for the first meeting of the tripartite committee. Meanwhile, Kaeng Krachan National Park is exploring the current settlement in lower Bangkoi for rotational farming sites. But Bank and his group say the area is unsuitable for Karen agricultural practices and does not align with their original demands. They also worry that the park may claim this as evidence of progress when presenting to the committee.

At the conclusion of the forum, Mr. Kriengkrai emphasized the importance of collective advocacy for the bill and land issues, even if the proposal is imperfect. “What we need now is possibility—a law that allows for future improvements,” he said.

Reflections on Resettlement: Community Voices and History

The next morning, on April 17, we had a walking tour of the community, which included conversations with elders who told us about the 1992–1996 relocation from Upper Bangkloi. The group visited Pong Luek—now the center of the resettled Bangkloi community—once rotational farm land of the original Pong Luek settlers, who were forced out to make space for the resettled people from Bangkloi. Over time, stories of old Pong Luek faded, reflecting how state-driven resettlement altered both memory and meaning for relocated and host communities.

Bank and the group then guided journalists and partners to visit the so-called "livelihood development project" areas—claimed by the park and state to improve local living conditions. These included permanent agricultural infrastructure, which conflict with the Karen’s traditional agricultural and water management systems.

Finally, we visited the sacred forest cemetery, where the community buries or cremates the dead according to long-standing beliefs. Despite the arrival of Buddhism and Christianity, the Karen Pga K’nyau still adhere to this tradition, making the area deeply spiritual and significant.

After the walk, the organizers distributed essential items, test kits, and household medicine to villagers at the community pavilion, where they shared lunch with Bangkloi community before bidding farewell and departing.

Updates from Thailand: Commemorating the 11th Anniversary of the Disappearance of Billy Porlajee