The families of two hilltribe people shot to death two years ago by soldiers in Chiang Mai on Wednesday lodged a joint lawsuit with the Civil Court in Bangkok, demanding the court orders the Royal Thai Army to pay a total of 11 million baht to compensate their losses.
The mother of Abe Sae Mu, 33, and the guardian of Chaiyaphum Pasae, 18, were accompanied by their lawyers to file a civil case against the army after the Chiang Mai Provincial Court last year said the two men had died after being shot by the military.
Their lawyers have asked the court for seven million baht compensation for Abe's family and four million baht for Chaiyaphum's relatives.
Ratsada Manooratsada, the lawyer for Chaiyaphum, said the families have been faced with little hope of getting justice so they decided to file a complaint with the Civil Court, which he said is the only channel left to strive for justice over the deaths.
"We have not seen progress by the military court in those cases and assistance to the victims' families. We have to take it to the Civil Court to get justice done," Mr Ratsada said.
"This is a case against a human rights violation and physical harm done by the authorities. The state must take responsibility and compensate those victims' families."
The hilltribe men were both killed in separate incidents by soldiers manning the same checkpoint at Ban Rin Laung in Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao district. The military claimed both had attacked the soldiers first and that they were shot in self-defence.
Abe, who was later found to have traces of drugs in his body was shot dead in February 2017. The death of Chaiyaphum, an 18-year-old Lahu youth activist, occurred one month later.
On March 17 of that year, Chaiyaphum was shot dead by soldiers who attempted to arrest for an alleged drug offence.
He and his friends were heading to Chiang Mai city when the soldiers stopped their car at the checkpoint and tried to arrest them for alleged drug possession. Military officials claimed Chaiyaphum resisted arrest and was subsequently shot in self defence.
Chaiyaphum's shooting triggered calls from human rights defenders demanding the army carry out a thorough investigation into the killing with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice.