In those days…most Laotians left the country, if they could. But Sombath decided to return to his country, and I think he is a wonderful person, very brave. He want to serve his country, and he had been doing so ever since. Bravely, skillfully, humbly, and I have known him all through this years, with much admiration…
…we respect the Lao government and we hope the Lao government will do everything they can to make sure that Sombath is a free person soon, because that will give Lao great credit, since we are now all very serious about ASEAN, but people think of ASEAN in terms of money and economics, but the essence of ASEAN is human dignity, human rights, and deep down, Lao has that…
…and I think Lao would have much reputation sharing with their neighbors that they care for human rights…
…It would be a great pity if he disappeared. It would be too much damage to the Lao government.
Sulak Sivaraksa at Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand on 21 December 2012