Jon Ungphakorn, former senator and founder of the Prachatai online news service and iLaw, a civil society organisation dedicated to the promotion of democratic principles and human rights, died at home this morning at the age of 77.
iLaw said in its Facebook post today that Jon always dreamed of seeing people participate in drafting laws to which they are to be subject, and this was why he founded iLaw in 2009, and that he had maintained that iLaw must stand up against coups and promote democratic principles.
Born in London, as the eldest son of the highly respected former governor of the Bank of Thailand, the late Dr. Puey Ungphakorn, and Magaret Smith, Jon graduated with a BA in Engineering from the University of Sussex in England.
In 1980, he initiated a volunteer program for society, which eventually transformed into a foundation by recruiting volunteers from among university graduates to help the rural poor. He also worked with non-governmental organisations (NGO) to train new NGOs in organisational management and to provide funding for several projects.
In 1991, he founded the ACCESS foundation for AIDS patients, providing them and their families with advice, fighting discrimination against people with AIDS and educating the patients on their rights of access to treatment.
He was appointed a senator in 2000 and, five years later, he founded the Prachatai online news service and iLaw.
During the political upheavals in Thailand in 1973 and 1976, Jon, his father and brothers, as well as a group of Thai expats in England, launched a newsletter, called “Mit Thai”, to disseminate information about Thailand to Thais living abroad and to the international community.
They also helped Thai students who escaped the oppressive Thai military regime at that time, according to Prachatai.
