Thailand routes Uyghur case to courts
Bangkok says two men detained for over a decade will face a judicial process before any deportation to China.
By Amelia Gupta ·
Thailand will not decide the fate of two detained Uyghur men through executive order alone.
Chaipruak Doungprapat, the head of the National Security Council, announced Wednesday that the two men must go through the court system. This marks a shift from how Bangkok handled a previous group of 40 Uyghur men sent back to China in 2025.
The two men, aged 26 and 35, have been in Thailand for more than ten years. They were released from prison in late October and are currently held at the Suan Plu immigration detention center in Bangkok.
In letters shared publicly last week, the men asked not to be returned to China. One of the men wrote, "Every time we are worrying from China to take back us." He added, "We aren’t terrorist."
The letters were distributed by Kannavee Suebsang, a former lawmaker and founder of the Peace Rights Foundation. The organization represents the two men.
China has long pressed for the return of the Uyghurs. Beijing initially claimed the group, which numbered over 300 people, included terrorists. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday that cooperation between the two nations on cross-border crimes follows international law. She did not confirm if a formal extradition request has been submitted.
Doungprapat stated that if the courts rule against the men, they will be extradited under the existing treaty. If the courts rule in their favor, they could be resettled in a third country.
This legal route addresses concerns raised by activists and opposition politicians. Sasinan Thamnithinan, a lawmaker for the People's Party, warned against returning individuals to face potential torture.
"Maintaining international relations is important, but it must not take precedence over human rights and the rule of law," Thamnithinan said. He argued that governments should not send people back to danger just to solve a problem.
The current case involves a small remnant of a larger group. In 2014, Thai authorities detained more than 300 Uyghurs near the Malaysian border. Thailand later sent a group of women and children to Turkey. In 2015, Bangkok deported 109 remaining detainees to China. That move sparked protests, including a ransacking of the Thai embassy in Turkey. The government delayed decisions on the rest of the group for years until the deportation of 40 men in February 2025.
The next step for the two men is a formal legal review. The court will determine if the conditions for extradition under the China-Thailand treaty are met.
