Top Thai union leader ‘targeted’ with jail for rail safety campaign

Case is major blow' in country with weak workers' rights and puts trade deals in question, says Human Rights Watch

One of Thailand's most prominent union leaders is facing three years in prison for his role in organising a railway safety campaign, in a case described as the biggest attack on organised labour in the country in decades.

Rights advocates say the case involving Sawit Kaewvarn, president of the State Railway Union of Thailand, will have a chilling effect on unions and threatens to further weaken workers' rights in the country.