Our Mission
Engage Thailand was founded by Thais to advance Thailand’s fight for democracy and human rights on the international level.
We aim to achieve this goal by:
Strengthening international awareness around Thai democratic development and issues,
1
Mobilizing diasporic and international Thai communities (starting from within the US) to support and advocate for justice and democracy in Thailand, and
2
Building relationships with international organizations and funders to funnel more resources to the network of Thai human rights defenders back home.
3
Our Team
Founder
Sirikan “June” Charoensiri is the founder of Engage Thailand. She is a human rights lawyer and also serves as executive advisor at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a non-governmental organization she co-founded in Thailand that works to document human rights violations and provide free legal support to people whose civil and political rights have been violated.
Engagement Lead
Yanisa Vararaksapong is a student activist and organizer. Charged with lèse-majesté in 2021, she now seeks asylum in the US, where she is pursuing an undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
Our Board
Board President
Tyrell Haberkorn is a Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Moreover, she serves as the Coordinator for the Justice in Southeast Asia Lab (JSEALab) and as the Co-Chair of the Human Rights Program at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Nepal Asatthawasi is the Co-Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Urban Manufacturing Alliance and Senior Advisor at 3x3, a community-centered urban strategies firm. She also serves as the Development Advisor for ArticleGroup.Org, where she supports human rights NGOs and activists in the global South to articulate their unique values, tell powerful stories, and scale their operations.
Jonathan Hullan served as the Senior Program Officer for Land, Water and Climate Justice at American Jewish World Service.
Carla Yuen is a Strategy Director at ArticleGroup.Org, a nonprofit consultancy and movement accelerator supporting NGOs and activists.
Saman Zia-Zarifi serves as the Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights. With over 30 years of experience as a lawyer, he previously served as the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists. He had also worked at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, where he led their Asia programs.