Anocha Panjoy (; ; born July 12, 1955) is a Thai national who was abducted by North Korean agents from

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

on 21 May 1978. Her case only became known after the release of the American

Charles Robert Jenkins Charles Robert Jenkins () was a United States Army desertion, deserter, North Korean prisoner, and voice for North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens, Japanese abductees in North Korea. Driven by fear of combat and possible service in th ...

and his Japanese family in 2004.

Early life and abduction

Panjoy was born in the village of Ban Nong Sae in Huai Sai, San Kamphaeng District,

Chiang Mai Province Chiang Mai is the largest Provinces of Thailand, province (''changwat'') of Thailand by area. It lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It ...

, northern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Her father, Som Panjoy, was a

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

veteran. Panjoy's mother died while she was a child, and her father died three months before the family became aware of what had happened to her. After graduating from high-school, Panjoy moved to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and then to

where she worked as a massage therapist in a local hotel. On 21 May 1978, she left her apartment telling her friends she was going to a local beauty parlour. According to Charles Robert Jenkins, whose book ''The Reluctant Communist'' tells of the abduction as related to him personally by Panjoy, she had agreed to take a man claiming to be a Japanese tourist on a guided boat tour. On a nearby beach, she was then ambushed and forced onto the boat, before being taken to North Korea.

Life in North Korea

Shortly after her arrival in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

, Panjoy was forced to marry U.S. defector Larry Allen Abshier. In 1980 Panjoy and her husband moved into an apartment near Jenkins and his Japanese wife Hitomi Soga, herself an abductee.Jenkins, Charles Robert (2007). ''The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea'', University of California Press, Berkeley. Panjoy became close with the family. Abshier died in 1983. Panjoy continued to live close to the Jenkins family until 1989, when she married an East German businessman who worked for the government. Soga and Jenkins last saw Panjoy in 1989, shortly before her second wedding. Jenkins stated that when he met Panjoy, she wished to return to Thailand and reunite with her family.

Sightings and information since 2000

In 2003, shortly before his departure to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Jenkins was told by North Korean officials that if he chose to remain in North Korea, he would be allowed to live with Panjoy. This made him believe she was still alive. Panjoy's family had no information about her condition until 2005, when her older brother recognised her in a photograph being held by Jenkins during a television interview. Once her family realised she was alive until at least 1989, they began to look for help to have her returned. In 2005, Panjoy's brother met Teruaki Masumoto, the secretary general of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea ( NAKRN). In 2006, the city of

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

, near Panjoy's hometown staged a photo exhibition to draw attention to her story. Suknam Panjoy wrote an open letter to his sister, supported by NARKN, and ReACH.

I wonder if you miss me after you read this letter? Since seeing your news, everybody in our family hopes to see you soon. This abduction should never have happened to you. Everybody wants to see you. You know, after you disappeared, we have faced many trials and tribulations. We have spent a lot of money trying to find you. Our father fell ill so I finally admitted him to the hospital at age 97. But, he passed away last year. I hope that if you read this letter, you will miss all of your family. Your family wants to help you come back. You don’t need to be afraid of anything.

With the death of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

in December 2011, people were hopeful that progress could be made in negotiations between the countries. North Korea denies that Panjoy was abducted by its agents or that she was ever in the country. North Korea also denies the abduction of the nationals of any country other than Japan.

References

External links

National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North KoreaAssociation for the Rescue of North Korean Abductees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panjoy, Anocha 1955 births 1970s missing person cases Anocha Panjoy Kidnappings in Macau Missing people Missing person cases in China North Korean abductions Anocha Panjoy Anocha Panjoy Expatriates in North Korea

Early life and abduction

Life in North Korea

Sightings and information since 2000

See also

References

External links