Surachet disclosed on Thursday that he officially resigned from his NHRC position in the hope of making a change within the organisation. He said that he wanted to use his resignation as a sign that there are governance problems within the NHRC.

He said in his resignation letter that his decision was because of an unpleasant working environment. However, he declined to clarify what he meant.

“It was very hard to progress anything because there were many obstructions. I have tried to change the internal working system, but there were still many problems, so I decided to resign to let the organisation realise the problems and make a change,” he said.

Angkhana Neelapaijit, another NHRC commissioner, said that people had to be tolerant to move the work forward, but she insisted that democracy inside the organisation and good governance were also very important.

“I respect Surachet’s decision to resign and I do not want his resignation to be in vain, as we are also looking forward to see the improvement within the organisation, where everyone respects each other’s opinion and works in a friendly atmosphere,” Angkhana said.

“I myself still do not know how long I will still be working on this position, as I have to admit that I have had to use so much patience recently. If I cannot work freely and efficiently in this position, I will not hesitate to resign too.”

Meanwhile, Prakairatana Thontiravong, another NHRC commissioner, refused to comment on the topic and only said that the NHRC Chairperson What Tingsamitr will arrange a press conference soon.

It was reported that the conflict within the NHRC came from the management and working system under the administration of the current NHRC chairman.