The second body found in the Mekhong around New Year has been identified as Kasalong, one of the three disappeared political activists living in exile, says the provincial police commander.

PPTV reported that on 22 January 2019, Pol Maj Gen Thanachat Rodklongtan, the Commander of Nakhon Phanom Provincial Police, told their reporter that the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Police Hospital, tested the DNA of one of the bodies found washed up on the banks of the Mekhong River, and that the results confirm that the body is related to Kasalong’s son. Pol Maj Gen Thanachat then said that an investigation is now underway.

Kasalong was among the activists who sought political asylum in a neighbouring country following the 2014 military coup. He disappeared from his residence around 12-13 December along with two other activists: Surachai Saedan (Surachai Danwattananuson) and Phuchana (pseudonym). Around New Year, two mutilated bodies were found washed up on the banks of the Mekhong River near Nakhon Phanom, generating concerns among the trio’s supporters, who believed that the disappeared activists could have been murdered.

Yesterday, Phuchana’s son told Prachatai that DNA tests confirmed that one of the two bodies is his father. Surachai, on the other hand, has still not been found. Pranee Danwattananuson, Surachai’s wife, told Prachatai that she is prepared to accept that her husband has died, and wish that Surachai, Phuchana, and Kasalong will rest in peace.