CrCF Director to Testify in Death Threat Case Against Cambodian Refugee “Phorn Phanna”, Linked to Alleged Hun Sen Voice Clip
At 1:30 p.m. on October 15, 2025, the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) director and legal team will travel to the Subdivision 1, Crime Suppression Division (CSD), Royal Thai Police Headquarters on Phaholyothin Road. They will serve as witnesses and provide statements following a complaint filed on August 7, 2025, which requested an investigation into a possible criminal offense committed within Thailand — specifically, the use or solicitation of murder targeting Mr. Phorn Phanna, a Cambodian political activist and UNHCR-recognized refugee residing in Thailand.
The complaint urged the Central Investigation Bureau to urgently investigate and gather evidence concerning the alleged actions of Mr. Hun Sen and his associates, who are accused of ordering or attempting to carry out an assassination of Mr. Phanna on Thai soil.
The case began when Mr. Phorn Phanna received an audio recording from a source, which he believes contains the voice of Hun Sen instructing his operatives — allegedly located in Thailand — to hunt him down. If verified, this would amount to a serious transnational crime and an offense against the Thai state, posing a threat to national sovereignty, public order, and stability.
Even though the attempt to carry out the order did not succeed, the act of issuing or commissioning such a directive constitutes a grave violation of Thai law. Mr. Phanna also believes that the murder of Mr. Lim Kimya, a former Cambodian opposition politician, killed in Thailand on January 7, 2025, was linked to Hun Sen’s network, and that both cases share similar patterns of transnational targeting of political exiles.
The incidents involving Phorn Phanna and Lim Kimya highlight the growing problem of “transnational repression” — the practice by which a government extends its persecution of dissidents beyond its borders, targeting those who have fled to other countries for safety. Such repression can take many forms, including assassination, enforced disappearance, cyber harassment, and coercive repatriation — all of which amount to interference with the host country’s sovereignty and violations of refugees’ rights and freedoms. In some cases, these actions may be facilitated by officials in the host country, making them even more serious as transnational crimes that undermine the rule of law and threaten Thailand’s internal peace and security.
The Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF) emphasized that the Thai state has a duty to protect the rights and freedoms of all individuals within its territory, regardless of nationality. The foundation called on media and the public to closely follow the Phorn Phanna case, ensuring that Thailand remains a safe haven for refugees — a country where everyone can live free from fear. CrCF also urged Thai authorities to strictly uphold national sovereignty and human rights principles, ensuring that no foreign government or actor can operate extrajudicially within Thailand or endanger individuals under Thai protection.
