Dear Jack,

Before young Pholachi Rakchongcharoen, known as ‘Billy,’ went missing, he warned his wife Menor not to come looking for him.

“The people involved in this aren't happy with me. They say that if they find me they'll kill me. If I do disappear, they'll probably have killed me.”

Billy came from a family of activists in Thailand. His grandfather, Ko-ee, was well-known in his Indigenous Karen community for standing up against the atrocities committed against them in the name of conservation.

Large areas of Karen land had been taken and turned into the Kaeng Krachan National Park. Before Ko-ee passed away at the age of 107, Billy was helping him gather evidence of the destruction of Karen houses and crops in the name of conservation. He knew this was dangerous work – the people running and patrolling the parks weren’t happy with it.

After Billy disappeared the chief of the Park, which now occupies the community’s land, admitted that his rangers had detained and interrogated him. The rangers alleged he had been found with wild honey, but claimed to have then released him. But neither Menor nor any of Billy’s friends ever heard from him again, and five years later, burnt fragments of his skull were found in a rusty oil drum inside the park. Whoever was responsible for Billy’s murder had tried to conceal the crime.

When we met with Menor in 2023, Billy’s case was being tried in the Thai courts. Four suspects, including the park chief, Chaiwat, had been charged with murder and other offences. All four were acquitted, though Chaiwat was found guilty of dereliction of duty for failing to write an official report on Billy’s detention.

Everyone involved in conservation projects in this area was aware of Billy’s story and the many other abuses the Karen have experienced. Yet UNESCO designated the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as a World Heritage Site in 2021, despite appeals from the Indigenous Karen to defer the decision until their human rights concerns were addressed.

Jack, please stand alongside the Karen people who, like Billy and Ko-ee before them, are courageously resisting fortress conservation.

With your help, our movement can challenge international funding and support for a colonial model of conservation that not only allows guards to violently attack Indigenous people with impunity, but even rewards militarized conservation areas with UNESCO World Heritage Status.

Thank you,

Sophie Grig
Research & Advocacy