Aung Ko Ko’s death shines light on army impunity

In January this year, the bruised and bloody body of a Myanmar man named Aung Ko Ko was found near the bustling town of Mae Sot, Thailand — just over the border from a deadly revolutionary war in Myanmar. But it wasn’t armed conflict in Myanmar that claimed Aung Ko Ko’s 37-year-old life. Evidence points to the Thai military.
Aung Ko Ko was a member of the local Chor Ror Bor — a volunteer security force trained by Thai authorities. He had been living in Thailand for several years. Three weeks after his body was abandoned on a barren dirt path, Thai police arrested another Myanmar man, Sirachuch, a 24-year-old who goes by one name.
Like Aung Ko Ko, Sirachuch was also a Chor Ror Bor volunteer and a longtime resident of Thailand. Police charged him with manslaughter — causing the death of Aung Ko Ko without intent to kill. In September, a court in Mae Sot convicted and sentenced him to three-and-a-half years in prison, where he remains today.
The problem is that Sirachuch wasn’t a perpetrator in Aung Ko Ko’s death — he was an eyewitness.
A months-long investigation by Fortify Rights reveals that on Jan 12, four Thai soldiers stopped and questioned Aung Ko Ko about why a Myanmar national like himself was wearing a Chor Ror Bor vest bearing a Thai flag patch.
According to eyewitnesses, the soldiers appeared offended on nationalistic grounds, despite Myanmar nationals being widely involved in Chor Ror Bor. Other security volunteers at the scene — ironically also Myanmar nationals — pleaded with the soldiers to release him.
Instead, three soldiers walked Aung Ko Ko to a small wooden bridge and beat him mercilessly, according to information Fortify Rights obtained from eyewitnesses.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers punched and kicked him and used large wooden sticks to attack him. Photographs taken after his death showed dark bruises on his forehead, cheekbones, nose, and back.
An autopsy that Fortify Rights obtained, corroborated these eyewitness accounts, confirming that blunt-force trauma to the head caused his death.
This was torture, which is prohibited in all forms everywhere, including under Thai and international law.
Earlier this month, Thailand was in Geneva defending its compliance with the Convention Against Torture — the foremost international treaty protecting the right to be free from torture.
“No one will be immune from criminal liability for committing torture,” said Aimon Siangyai from the Ministry of Justice, speaking to UN member states.
However, this case suggests otherwise: The perpetrators remain free, while an innocent man pays the price for their crimes.
Extraordinarily, the charge sheet filed by Mae Sot police against Sirachuch mentions the military’s alleged involvement in Aung Ko Ko’s death. Multiple testimonies in Sirachuch’s trial also implicated the military.
In the last week, various authorities offered conflicting or inadequate responses to Fortify Rights’ 44-page report on this case.
For example, Pol Col Pittayakon Petcharat told Reuters, “We have followed the legal process fully, but he [Sirachuch] did not name others”. This dubious response suggests that Thai police rely solely on witness identification, ignoring other investigative tools.
The Thai army provided conflicting statements. Speaking to AFP, army spokesman Maj Gen Thanathip Sawangsang said, “We are in the process of investigating and looking for the facts, but Thailand has always given priority and importance to human rights”.
However, in a statement to MGR Online, the army denied any responsibility, implausibly claiming Aung Ko Ko was tortured on the Myanmar side of the border and then dumped on Thai soil. Apart from being baseless, this account undermines Sirachuch’s entire prosecution. Is the army suggesting a Thai court exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction over a crime committed in Myanmar?
This is impunity in action. Thai authorities must unravel it swiftly to ensure accountability and the rule of law. While accountability for rights violations against Myanmar people in Thailand is rare, it is not unprecedented. In 2017, Thai authorities convicted an army lieutenant general for his involvement in human trafficking-related crimes against Rohingya people from Myanmar.
Moreover, with several million migrants in Thailand, migrant labour is critical to the country’s economy, forming the backbone of key industries. Denying the rule of law to migrants not only violates human rights but also risks destabilising the economy that depends on their labour. Protecting migrant rights is both a moral and economic imperative.
Thai authorities should launch an independent and impartial investigation into the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko, ensuring the soldiers responsible are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Additionally, Thai authorities should overturn Sirachuch’s wrongful conviction and provide him and Aung Ko Ko’s family with redress for their suffering.
The world is watching. Justice for Aung Ko Ko would send a powerful message that no one — soldier or civilian — is above the law in Thailand when it comes to torture.
Matthew Smith is CEO and founder of Fortify Rights, an award-winning human rights organisation that has published a new report, ‘Death at the Thai-Myanmar Border: The Detention, Torture, and Killing of Myanmar National Aung Ko Ko in Thailand’. Follow him on X at @matthewfsmith.