Detained human rights lawyer Anon Nampa has been awarded the 2025 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Right Defenders At Risk for his role in promoting and protecting human rights despite serious risk to his own personal safety.
Pathomporn Kaewnoo (left) receiving the award on behalf of Anon and his family (Photo by Ginger Cat)
The Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk is awarded by the Irish human rights organization Front Line Defenders to honour the work of human rights defenders making outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of human rights, often at great personal risk to themselves.
The 2025 Front Line Defenders Awards were given to human rights defenders from five global region:
Africa: Luc Agblakou of Hirondelle Club International (Benin)
Americas: The Movement for Human Rights, Peace and Global Justice (MONDHA) (Dominican Republic/Haiti)
Asia and the Pacific: Anon Nampa of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (Thailand)
Europe and Central Asia: Sharifa Madrakhimova (Uzbekistan)
Middle East and North Africa: Mhamed Hali (Western Sahara)
An award ceremony for Anon was held yesterday (3 November) at the Jim Thompson Art Center in Bangkok. The award was presented by Front Line Defenders Director Alan Glasgow.
In his opening speech, Glasgow noted human rights defenders worldwide are facing risk and harassment, from arbitrary arrest and detention to legal action, death threats, and surveillance. He said that the 2025 laureates were previously recognized at a ceremony in Dublin for “their unwavering commitment to protecting human rights.”
“In recognizing Anon and the other laureates, we do more than applaud individual courage,” he said. “We acknowledge the concerning global trends that make such courage necessary.”
He noted that Thai human rights defenders continue to operate in a hostile environment marked by politically motivated prosecutions, such as under the royal defamation and sedition laws, SLAPP lawsuits, and intrusive surveillance. Bail conditions, travel bans, and court appointments drain time and resources, while protesters and human rights defenders face targeted intimidation.
“Anon Nampa’s story sits within this broader reality. As a pro-bono lawyer for Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, he has defended people prosecuted under Section 112 and other repressive provisions,” said Glasgow. “Anon Nampa is an imprisoned human rights lawyer and activist, highly regarded for his deep commitment to social justice and pro-democracy activism in Thailand.
“In spite of the political persecution Arnon faces; the potential of a lifetime behind bars and proposed penalties of disbarment from the profession to which he has dedicated his life, he has never wavered in offering himself in service of others and his country. With steadfast courage and resolve, for more than a decade, Anon has played the roles of an activist, a storyteller, a justice-oriented lawyer, and a human rights defender.”
Glasgow said that the Award is “a spotlight, not a finish line.”
“In the days ahead, Anon’s case—and the cases of many across Thailand and in the region—will continue to test our resolve. Let this room be a commitment: that we will keep showing up, keep speaking out, and keep coordinating support, so that human rights defenders can continue their peaceful work safely, with dignity, and with hope.”
Anon was unable to attend the ceremony as he is detained pending appeal at the Bangkok Remand Prison since 26 September 2023. For his activism, he faces a total prison sentence of 29 years and 1 months on 10 counts of royal defamation, 1 count of sedition, 1 count of violating the Emergency Decree, and 1 count of contempt of court.
Representing Anon and his family, Pathomporn Kaewnoo accepted the Award on his behalf and read out a letter from Anon expressing his gratitude for the Award.
It is a profound honor and deeply moving to receive this prestigious award. More than that, I feel immensely empowered for the road ahead—a path shrouded in darkness, echoing with the roars of demons that bear the name of the old order.
My friends and I were born and raised in the old order, like birds born and raised in a cage. Our ancestors were oppressed and deceived by outdated and irrational beliefs. The power of the old order created propaganda to indoctrinate us—and often coerced us—into believing that human beings are not born equal, but that one group of people is destined to rule while others are born to be ruled.
Our ancestors tried to rise up and challenge those beliefs. They worked to carve out a new path and push for change, time and again—sometimes falling, sometimes rising—but their efforts never ceased, never faded. The struggle against the old order has been passed down, generation by generation, until it has reached our time.
Today, efforts to challenge the old order are taking place across the world. In an era where oppression grows ever more brazen, expanding its reach to erode human dignity and suppress freedom of expression and resistance in all its forms, there is a concerted effort to drag us back to the old world—and to prevent a new one from ever taking shape.
In my country, too, freedom of expression is strictly forbidden. Repression is routine—ranging from killings and enforced disappearances to arbitrary charges, imprisonment, political disenfranchisement, and the systematic silencing of those who do not conform to the old order. And yet, we do not submit.
In 2020, we rose up under the name Ratsadon 2020 to carry forward the struggle of our ancestors. Political demonstrations and online expression spread widely and boldly, driven by the belief that freedom and equality can only be achieved through resistance. That uprising awakened people in my society. It shattered the illusions constructed by the old order—illusions used to blind and oppress us. Through this struggle, we have grown stronger. Every wound has hardened our resolve. Every fall has made us steadier on our feet.
This award is not a medal to pin on the wings of a bird—it is the wind beneath them, the force that lifts us as we soar toward victory. Come then! Come, all obstacles—all the threats and roaring voices—come at us! We will fight, and we will end this struggle in our generation!
With gratitude, conviction, and faith.
Arnon Nampa
Bangkok Remand Prison
8 May 2025
(Translation from Thai Lawyers for Human Right
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