After Athiwat Witphichitchai’s story went viral on Facebook, many people have placed donations in his bank account, raising a scholarship fund to be over Bt600,000 as of Saturday.

Athiwat’s mother died on December 30 and his stepfather asked him to leave the house, so he went to live with his aunt, Junjira Kiartnok.

His biological father left him and his mother when he was four years old, Junjira wrote in a Facebook post.

Athiwat finished secondary school at Buri Ram Pitthaya School.

He passed the exam to study at the chemical department of Kasertsart University’s Faculty of Engineering on March 8 and he is required to pay the first semester’s tuition fee of Bt36,000 by Tuesday.

However, his aunt does not have enough money to fund his education as she is a food vendor and has to shoulder the cost of sending her son to university.

His aunt was advised by friends to post the story on her Facebook wall, after which public support poured in.

Athiwat thanked all the kind-hearted people for their support. He said he now had enough money to finish his studies.

He has consulted with his aunt and has divided the money between his tuition fees and his living expenses.

Apart from donations made to his bank account, three doctors have offered to provide him with a scholarship until he finishes his studies. They are Dr Saowanee Saeng-arun, who has a clinic near Kasetsart University and Dr Siriporn Wichetpong and Dr Somkiart Wichetpong from Roi Et University.

Ahtiwat promised to repay society by helping other needy students after he finishes university and has a job.

This is an important step towards combating enforced disappearances and securing truth and justice for victims, including family members, it said in a statement released Monday.

The decision came shortly before the 13th anniversary of the enforced disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who was abducted in Bangkok on this day in 2004.

Amnesty International urged authorities to avoid further delays in ratifying the treaty and to ensure that its obligations to prevent and protect against disappearances become a

domestic reality.

“Authorities should enact legislation establishing acts of enforced disappearance as a specific crime, repeal legal provisions that facilitate incommunicado detention without charge or trial in unofficial places of detention, and establish adequate safeguards against disappearances for detained individuals,” it said.

“The high number of unresolved cases of disappearance in Thailand are a lasting scar on the country’s legacy. The suffering of families who have been living with the devastating consequences of enforced disappearance has been compounded by the denial of the truth about their relative’s fate and whereabouts and the state’s failure to bring perpetrators to justice.”

The statement said authorities should act swiftly to remedy this “continuing injustice, reveal the truth about these cases, and hold those responsible to account”.

The UN Human Rights Committee will review Thailand’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights today and tomorow.

Amnesty International and other civil society partners, both Thai and international, have submitted reports to the committee recommending that Thailand ratify the ICPPED and pass legislation criminalising torture and enforced disappearances.

The prediction was made by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisations, the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) and the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw).

Thailand’s human rights record will be examined by the CCPR today and tomorrow in Geneva.

According to the statement, the CCPR monitors Thailand’s compliance with its legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

In conjunction with Thailand’ s review, the organisations released “Under siege – Violations of civil and political rights under Thailand’s military junta”, a report that documents how military rule has had a wide-ranging, negative impact on the country’s human rights situation since the May 2014 coup.

FIDH president Dimitris Christopoulos said: “In Geneva, the Thai government faces a mission impossible to defend the military junta’s unjustifiable policies and actions. Until the junta ceases its abusive practices, Thailand will continue to flout its international human rights obligations.”

The joint FIDH, UCL and iLaw report detailed their concerns over what they described as the significant erosion of civil and political rights guaranteed by the various provisions of the ICCPR as a direct result of actions undertaken by the ruling junta.

The key concerns include the right to an effective remedy for human rights violations; the right to life; the right to liberty and security; the right to humane treatment for persons deprived of their liberty; and freedom of movement; the right to a fair trial; the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right to freedom of peaceful assembly; and the right to participate in public affairs and to vote.

“Under the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order], the repression of any form of peaceful dissent has reached its highest point in decades,” said iLaw executive director Jon Ungpakorn.

“By completely disregarding the basic principles of human rights and the rule of law, the junta has triggered a downward spiral that will be difficult to reverse.”

“For many years, Thailand has consistently failed to implement most of the key recommendations it received from UN human rights bodies,” UCL chairman Jaturong Boonyarattanasoontorn said. “Sadly, this failure has been amplified by further repressive policies and abuses committed by the NCPO, which has rendered Thailand’s human rights commitments completely meaningless.”

Valentina Novozhyonovam, 23, has went missing during her trip to Koh Tao since February 15. Her mother has already arrived at the island waiting for the good news.

A source said that the suspension of the search on the sea came after the diver team are tired as they dived in search for her continuously for ten days.

The visibility under the water is also bad, about only 50 centimetres.

However rescue teams still looked for her on foot but could not locate her.

Novozhyonovam has been known for aving free diving as her favourite diving.