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Send a letter to Somyot

April 3, 2016 Leave a comment Go to comments

somyot

On the 30th April we will be marking Somyot’s 5th year of being in prison.  Somyot is a Thai labour and democracy activist and leader who was imprisoned under the draconian lese majeste law.

There are many Thai political prisoners are being harassed, charged and imprisoned under this law in order to stop them working towards the end of military rule.  We are calling you to send a letter to Somyot to let him and political prisoners is Thailand know that the world has not forgotten them.

Please send your letters to our Facebook page here.

You can also send a hand written letter to:
Somyot Priksakasemsuk
Bangkok Remand Prison, Section 1
33 Ngam wong wan road, Ladyao, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand

Categories: Uncategorized
  1. john francis lee
    April 21, 2016 at 6:58 am
    Reply

    Somyot Pruksakasemsuk
    Bangkok Remand Prison
    33 Ngamwongwan Rd., Lad Yao
    Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900 Thailand

    21 April 2016

    Hi Somyot,

    I’m writing to let you know that I am inspired by the way you’re holding up to the brutal mistreatment dealt out to you. All the accounts I’ve read that include reporting from people who’ve actually spoken with you, actually met you, or have served time with you all mention that you have not succumbed to despair, that on the contrary you have found time and energy to help others with whom you’ve come in contact. That you have not allowed injustice to crush you. That you have only grown in stature since your persecution.

    That’s wonderful to hear, and you can count me as one more of the people you’ve helped through your example.

    I’m getting older now, I’ll be 69 in August, and time seems to be speeding up for me as I age. A year is certainly not what it once was for me, the years seem to go by too quickly now. Five years is still a solid block of time. I hope I have five more years myself, no matter what life brings. You’ve already done nearly half of the term they’ve handed down to you.

    I hope a real, elected government returns before your full term is reached, and that you are released as soon as possible thereafter, but that may not be the case.

    Whatever the case, I hope you stay strong, and are able to keep perfecting yourself as a human being. I think I am not the only one whose admiration for you has grown, not the only one whom you have helped ‘just’ by your continued existence in the face of injustice, by the example you have set for us.

    As I try to type something to you from the heart on what is a landmark occasion, all I can think of are “the poor man’s words : thank you”. Thank you Somyot for standing up for your own humanity, for that of the workers you helped for so many years, for the fight you’re fighting now for dignity and self-determination, for the fine, strong example you are setting for me and for everyone else who’s followed you, even from afar.

    That phrase “the poor man’s words : thank you” comes toward the end of a movie called Black Orpheus, it’s been a favorite of mine for 50 years. I’ll send you a copy under seperate cover, so that you will get this letter even if the ‘authorities’ decide to deny you the dvd.

    Stay strong, Somyot, and thanks again for being the fine man, the shining example that you are to me personally and I think to many others, throughout Thailand certainly, and around the world as well.

    Your friend and admirer,
    john francis lee
    79/151 Moo 22
    Mueang Chiangrai 57000

  2. Sean Cusack
    May 4, 2016 at 10:22 am
    Reply

    Somyot,

    your friend Elizabeth Cotton has brought your case to my attention. I am lucky to be a trade union organiser and activist in a country where it is legal to be one. We might struggle here for a hearing and we might battle against a press controlled by reactionary forces but with few exceptions we don’t end up in prison for what we say or what we think or what we write.
    Your stoicism in prison and your continued service to fellow prisoners bears witness to the fact that you can’t lock an idea in chains and that principles of justice, equality and fairness endure as they are fundamental to the human spirit. Your body is restrained behind walls and punished but your mind is free and your spirit unbroken. I salute you.I shall sing a song of freedom to a small audience next week and I shall dedicate it to you.

    There’s people holding out for justice
    From their prison cells I hear them call
    Hoping someone is gonna hear them
    Echoes behind the prison walls

    and how long must they wait
    How long must they wait
    How long must they wait….for you?

    I hope not too long.
    Sean
    Bristol
    UK

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