Sai and his wife decided to leave Thailand as they were worried of being deported back to Myanmar, also known as Burma, where Sai believes he will be persecuted for his activism against the junta.
Two days after the exhibition’s opening, the couple was heading to their home in Bangkok when they realised that Thai police were looking for them.
The BBC understands the couple received texts from gallery staff alerting them to the police’s visit to the exhibition, and that officers had asked for the couple’s contact numbers.
At that moment, Sai said, “we realised we had to leave the country”.
The couple immediately purchased the earliest flight to the UK they could find. “We only had a few minutes to pack our belongings. My wife was shaking, she couldn’t pack anything,” he said.
Just hours after they received the call, they left the country.
Thailand’s national police spokesman Achayon Kraithong told the BBC that he had not received any information that police officers were looking for the artist, and said the accusation was too broad to prove.
“Without specific information, we cannot comment on it. If there was enough evidence, we would be able to say if it actually happened or not,” he said.
The couple had fled their homeland in 2021 following the military coup.
Sai’s father is Lin Htut, the former chief minister of Myanmar’s biggest state, Shan, and a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted National League for Democracy. He was arrested and subsequently jailed on corruption charges.
Sai’s mother was put under house arrest for several months, and is now still living under heavy surveillance.
Sai has long maintained the charges are false and insists that his father is a political prisoner. He has been vigorously campaigning for his release while criticising the junta.
The couple had eventually settled in Thailand and decided to put on their art show in Bangkok because of the large Burmese community there, and also because “Thailand plays a critical role to promote peace and stability for Myanmar… it’s a secure place”, said Sai.
But he no longer feels this way. “When a foreign power can dictate what art can be shown, it undermines cultural sovereignty,” he said.
“Because of our activism, the targeting by authoritarian regimes against us has multiplied… my wife and I have no choice but to seek asylum in the UK.”
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