The Labour Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN), an NGO set up to tackle rights abuses of workers, yesterday launched a fundraising campaign called "Bring our crewman home" to help the family of Somkiat Srimuangkho, a Thai fisherman who was tricked into illegally working on a fishing boat in Indonesia and died on the remote island of Benjina.
LPN director Sompong Sakaeo said the goal is to bring the body, which was buried on Benjina island in 2015, home and provide an educational scholarship to his seven-year-old daughter. If there is money left, it will be used to help bring home other Thai fishermen stranded in Indonesia.
"On Sept 24, the LPN will travel to Benjina island to bring Somkiat's body back to his hometown in Surin province. We need a budget of 800,000 baht to do this. We've now received more than 100,000 baht from the Ministry of Labour and various businesses and we hope to reach the target before Sept 24," he said.
Sa-nga Srimuangkho, 65, Somkiat's mother, said her son had left Thailand to work on a fishing vessel in Indonesia in 2010 but in April 2015 he had contacted her and spoke of the terrible working conditions there.
"My son said he wanted to return to Thailand and wanted the government to help him because he had not seen his daughter for five years. Unfortunately, he died just a month later," Ms Sa-nga said.
Somkiat's body was initially identified as that of a Cambodian man named Chaiya Boonsam by Indonesian authorities because he had used a fake ID by that name to work aboard the fishing vessel.
After her son disappeared, Ms Sa-nga asked the LPN and Thai officials to help locate her son. Two years ago, a forensic team conducted DNA tests on bodies buried on the island which revealed that the body under the name of Chaiya was actually Somkiat.
However, the family has not had the money to pay to retrieve his body, Mr Sompong said.
He added that people who want to help can donate money through the Krungthai Bank account "Labour Rights Promotion Network", 162-0-09432-0.
