We Walk... Solidarity
We Walk with friends. We Walk to meet friends. We Walk to open a space for those who have no other way to freely tell their stories or be heard.
We Walk… Solidarity is a collaborative campaign between a wide range of groups including the Health Security Watch group and People Movement for Social Welfare, Alternative Agriculture Network, National Recourse Network and the Academic and Lawyer Network. The aim of the campaign is to shed light on the human rights violations caused by the increasing suppression of the right to freedom of expression, the growing influence of the military government, and the situation of human rights in Thailand.
The main action of the We Walk... Solidarity campaign’s activism is a walk from Bangkok to Khon Khaen, a journey of about 450 kilometers that will take about 28 days. The slogans of the campaign, such as ‘We Walk with friends. We Walk to meet friends. We Walk to open a space for those who have no other way to freely tell their stories or be heard.’ reflect the peaceful nature of the Walk and underscore the aim to increase awareness, build solidarity and develop greater participation of people in Thailand
After seizing power in a 2014 coup, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has maintained its grip on the country through an array of restrictive laws. The junta’s intolerance of dissenting opinions has resulted in a challenging climate for human rights defenders. Judicial harassment, which remains one of the most common tools to silence HRDs, has intensified, with defamation and other criminal and civil charges being brought against them. There are reports of surveillance of HRDs, both physical and online, intimidation, public smear campaigns and threats. A number of events, including the launching of human rights reports, have been disrupted and public gatherings banned. HRDs also face physical assaults, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial killings.
