A Laughing Lament

It has been 6 years since the body of Chatchan Bupphawan, or 'Comrade Phuchana', was found in the Mekong River in December 2018. He was one of the political exiles fleeing the country after the 2014 military coup. The trail has since gone cold. No progress has so far been made in the investigation into his death. But his family must go on living. To keep the fire burning, each December, Phuchana's family members and their friends gather at his home in Mukdahan to celebrate and heal, so that they can go on despite the fading hope of justice for political exiles and enforced disappearance victims.