The following is based on a communication written by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Thailand, as well as companies Fusion Development Co. Ltd. and Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd., on 8 October 2025. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government and companies time to reply. The Government acknowledged receipt of the communication on 17 October 2025. If more replies are received, they will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the escalating death threats against human rights defenders Mr. Jorn Naowa-opas and Mr. Sumet Rianpongnam in the Eastern Region of Thailand in 2025; the wider pattern of reprisals against communities resisting industrial projects under the Eastern Economic Corridor, in the context of reported pollution of water, land, and air caused by toxic waste facilities in Eastern Thailand, reportedly involving Thailand-based companies Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd., KSD Recycle Co. Ltd., and Fusion Development Co. Ltd.
Mr. Jorn Naowa-opas is a human rights defender and member of the Volunteer Network for the Protection of Natural Resources and the Environment in the Phanom Sarakham District in Chachoengsao Province. Mr. Jorn was appointed Head of the Waste and Environmental Issues Working Group of the volunteer network. The network has over 500 members from several villages that have long been affected by severe pollution caused by industrial projects.
Mr. Sumet Rianpongnam is a human rights defender and leader of the Khon Rak Krok Sombun Group in Prachinburi Province. The group was formed by residents of several communities, comprising around 800 people. Mr. Sumet and other members of the group defend Prachinburi Province against pollution caused by companies operating in the area. Mr. Sumet’s work is particularly focused on opposing the construction of a waste landfill by Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd.
We have previously written to the Government of Thailand in 2013 (THA 3/2013) concerning the killing of environmental human rights defender Mr. Prajob Naowa-opas, the brother of Mr. Jorn Naowa-opas. Mr. Prajob was monitoring the activities of Fusion Development Co. Ltd., and prior to his assassination, received death threats. We thank the Government for their reply dated 2 July 2013, which outlines that one of the suspected perpetrators of the killing was a board member of Fusion Development Co. Ltd.
ALLEGATIONS
Context of the Eastern Economic Corridor
The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is a special economic zone of three provinces in Eastern Thailand – Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong. It reportedly accounts for over US$80 billion in business investments, mostly foreign investment, contributing nearly 15% of Thailand’s annual GDP. This State-led initiative aims at transforming the eastern provinces of Thailand into a hub for high-tech industries and innovation, driving economic growth and attracting foreign investment. Consequently, vast areas have been transformed into industrial zones.
The operations in the EEC designated area are governed by the Eastern Economic Corridor Act B.E.2561 (2018), establishing the EEC Policy Committee. This committee has broad discretion, including the power to designate the areas, and amend the criteria, procedures and conditions for business operations in the EEC. This includes exemptions from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures and bypassing community hearings. Thailand’s Environmental Law (NEQA) requires EIAs and public consultations for large-scale projects. However, in EEC practice, projects are often structured or screened to fall outside the thresholds, or approvals are expedited, resulting in minimal or no consultation of the communities affected by the industrialisation and concomitant pollution of air, water, and land. This pollution is caused by, amongst other, facilities that manage toxic wastes from industrial operations, including Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd., KSD Recycle Co. Ltd., and Fusion Development Co. Ltd.
The EEC’s impact on human rights defenders and the right to a healthy environment
Most toxic waste facilities in the EEC are located close to communities, agricultural land, and bodies of water. This has led to the contamination of surface and groundwater, toxic residues in soil that undermine agricultural production, emissions causing serious health risks to nearby residents, and the displacement of farming communities.
Human rights defenders and activists who expose violations and abuses of business suffer from intimidation and targeted violence, reportedly from state and private actors. As a result of their work, human rights defenders have been the target of surveillance and intimidation, bribery attempts to silence them, criminalisation through lawsuits, death threats, and assassinations. Community-based human rights defenders are at heightened risk as both their personal safety and their livelihoods are threatened.
In 2014, KSD Recycle Co. Ltd. paid a fine of 29 million Thai Baht to Mr. Jorn and over 200 other members of the Volunteer Network for the Protection of Natural Resources and the Environment, after they had filed a civil lawsuit against the company for illegally dumping toxic chemicals. In 2020, Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd. filed a 50-million-baht civil lawsuit and criminal defamation lawsuit against Mr. Sumet and other members of the Khon Rak Krok Sombun Group, after they filed a complaint against the company with the local authorities. The lawsuit was dismissed due to the withdrawal by the company after the group removed the banners referring to “toxic waste”. These legal cases exemplify the longstanding opposition of human rights defenders in the EEC against companies causing environmental damage, as well as the retaliatory measures these companies take against communities defending their livelihoods and the environment.
In 2024, the Ministry of Industry created the task force ‘Team Sudsoi’ to investigate irregular waste operations, yet it was heavily dependent on evidence submitted by local human rights defenders and could not hold companies responsible for pollution nor remediate the environmental damage caused by companies in the EEC. KSD Recycle Co. Ltd was also inspected by the task force in July 2025 for the illegal burial of industrial waste in Chachoengsao Province. Since the Constitutional Court removed the Prime Minister and his cabinet in August 2025, human rights defenders working with the task force have expressed their concerns over the disruption of the investigations and lack of protection for human rights defenders from reprisals by the companies they are monitoring.
Concerning Mr. Jorn Naowa-opas
On 9 May 2024, police officers from Phanom Sarakham District contacted Mr. Jorn, requesting a meeting between him and a former high-ranking officer. Anticipating potential risks, Mr. Jorn arrived with fellow human rights defenders. They were taken to a waste recycling facility in Chachoengsao. There, the factory owner and the former officer attempted to coerce Mr. Jorn, offering compensation for stopping his human rights work. Mr. Jorn declined and left.
Since June 2025, Mr. Jorn and his network have been monitoring the illegal disposal of toxic waste by KSD Recycle Co. Ltd. and Fusion Development Co. Ltd. and submitting their evidence to the Sudsoi Team task force.
On 20 July 2025, Mr. Jorn received information that contract killers travelled to Chonburi Province to target activists opposing waste facilities in Chonburi and Chachoengsao.
In August 2025, a police officer from Phanom Sarakham District reportedly called Mr. Jorn, asking him about his whereabouts and warning him that he would be attacked soon. The same officer later invited him to inspect wastewater issues, an offer Mr. Jorn declined due to fears for his safety.
Concerning Mr. Sumet Rianpongnam
Mr. Sumet and members of the Khon Rak Krok Sombun Group live in areas severely affected by water and air pollution. These areas lie within the Kabin Buri District and the Sri Maha Phot District.
In 2024, while monitoring toxic waste facilities suspected of environmental violations in Prachinburi Province, Mr. Sumet reported that his movement was being monitored. On 3 September 2024, a man claiming to be a government official attempted to enter his property. Mr. Sumet photographed the individual and swiftly alerted fellow defenders, in order to protect his personal safety.
Since this incident and throughout 2025, the harassment and surveillance of Mr. Sumet have reportedly intensified, and he has received alerts from other human rights defenders that waste management companies had allegedly pooled resources to hire a contract killer.
The severity of the threats is evident from the assassination of Mr. Jorn’s brother, Mr. Prajob Naowa-opas, in 2013. Mr. Prajob Naowa-opas was monitoring a facility of Fusion Development Co. Ltd., and he received threats shortly before being killed. Further, the suspected perpetrator of hiring the contract killers was a board member of Fusion Development Co. Ltd. and a government official at the Ministry of Industry. According to reports, the alleged perpetrator was found innocent and resumed his post at the Ministry of Industry, despite evidence of communication between the suspect and the contract killers.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our serious concern over the threats against human rights defenders Mr. Jorn and Mr. Sumet. The threats, surveillance, and other human rights violations against Mr. Jorn and Mr. Sumet appear to be a direct reprisal for monitoring, reporting, and opposing harmful corporate practices in the EEC.
The previous assassination of a human rights defender who was working on environmental protection, corruption, and corporate abuse in the EEC, and the failure of the State to hold all alleged perpetrators accountable, highlight the concerning security situation of Mr. Jorn and Mr. Sumet. In her report to the Human Rights Council in 2020 (A/75/165), the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders highlighted the link between the killing of human rights defenders and death threats, noting that “[n]ot all death threats to human rights defenders are followed by a murder, and not all such murders are preceded by death threats. However, many killings are preceded by a threat.”
We also express our concern over the lack of appropriate measures taken by the Government to ensure that businesses operating in the ECC respect human rights and the environment, in particular the rights of human rights defenders, including requiring human rights due diligence. We are extremely concerned that on the contrary, the State would have weakened environmental and human rights safeguards through bypassing environmental regulations when approving industrial projects, particularly those involving toxic waste. We are alarmed by the failure of the State to protect communities from corporations such as Waste 2 Energy Co. Ltd., KSD Recycle Co. Ltd., and Fusion Development Co. Ltd., which profit at the expense of damaging the environment, the livelihoods of local communities, and the security of human rights defenders opposing illegal activities.
