This letter was sent by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar to Professor Dr. Suwanna Satha-Anand, the wife of the late Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand, who passed away on 27 June 2024.
Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand was a member of the International Advisory Panel for the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
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Professor Dr. Suwanna Satha-Anand
Philosophy Department, Faculty of Arts
Chulalongkorn University,
Bangkok Thailand.
Dear Sister Suwanna,
Mariam and I would like to extend our deepest condolences to you on the demise of your beloved husband, Chaiwat Satha Anand.
We have lost one of our noblest friends. Chaiwat was a warm, kind, thoughtful and deeply compassionate human being. I shall always treasure his numerous acts of kindness towards me, from wheeling me down the corridors of conference halls to ensuring that I was comfortable in some hotel room in Bangkok or in some other city in some other part of the world.
It was his compassion and his concern for justice which informed and inspired his scholarship and his role as an educator. His writings on non-violence and peace, which were original and innovative, will remain his lasting legacy. He was also an outstanding bridge-builder especially in the realm of Muslim -Buddhist relations. He combined academic research with tangible efforts at the community-level as few others did. His intimate knowledge of both majority and minority communities in Thailand was an asset which enhanced the understanding of all those who came into contact with his scholarship and his activism.
From my days in the Malaysia oriented NGO , Aliran, to my present work in JUST and SHAPE, Chaiwat was an indispensable contributor. He not only enriched the programmes of these and other civil society groups but also helped to elevate their moral and intellectual content for the larger benefit of society.
Though Chaiwat had given me some indication of his terminal illness, his passing away has nonetheless left a huge vacuum in my life. I hope and pray that young activists and scholars will imbibe ideas and examples from his work and his life.
May God Almighty place his soul among the righteous in the hereafter.
Ameen.
In sorrow,
Chandra Muzaffar
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Chaiwat Satha-Anand, born on January 25, 1955, in Bangkok, Thailand, was a distinguished professor of political science at Thammasat University. He passed away on June 27, 2024. He earned his Bachelor of Arts with first-class honors from Thammasat University in 1975 and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawaii in 1981.
Chaiwat had a prolific career as both an academic and a peace activist. He served as a lecturer and assistant professor at Thammasat University from 1982 to 1987, and he became an associate professor in 1987. He also held roles such as the associate director of the Thai Khadi Research Institute and chairman of Thammasat University’s Textbook Project.
His research focused on nonviolence, Islam, and peace studies. Chaiwat authored and edited numerous works published internationally and translated into various languages including Arabic, Chinese, French, and Japanese. Notable publications include “Protecting the Sacred, Creating Peace in Asia-Pacific” and “Nonviolence and Islamic Imperatives.”
Throughout his career, Chaiwat received several prestigious awards, such as the Thailand National Research Council’s Best Researcher in Political Science and Public Administration in 2006 and the International El-Hibri Peace Education Prize in 2012.
Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anand was a member of the International Advisory Panel for the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
This bio-sketch was compiled by Hassanal Noor Rashid, Director of Programmes, JUST